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Home My WebLink About06-11-2002 ArticlesMarian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 12:23 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Local Police Should Not Do INS Job May 8, 2002 NY Times Local Police Should Not Do an I.N,S. Job By JAMES M. LINDSAY and AUDREY SINGER [ _ SHINGTON -- The Bush administration is moving toward giving state and local police an expanded role in enforcing the nation's immigration laws. Although this move is being justified as part of the war on terrorism, it will do little to stop terrorists and will frighten immigrant communities. The administration's interest in involving state and local police in enforcing immigration laws represents a shift in strategy. All 19 Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States legally as tourists or students. Washington is looking for ways to keep terrorists out. The border security bill the Senate passed last month helps address the problem. Among other things, it would create a comprehensive terrorist database that officials can consult when granting visas. But prevention can fail; thus the administration's interest in enlisting state and local police. Now the responsibility for enforcing immigration law rests exclusively with the Justice Department. State and local police generally cannot arrest people solely for being in this country illegally. Police departments have liked this division of labor, since enforcing immigration laws could take time away from more pressing crime-fighting duties and harm their relations with immigrants. In 1996, Congress authorized the attorney general to make agreements with state and local governments permitting them to enforce immigration laws. But before Sept. 11, lack of state and local interest, coupled with opposition by pro-immigrant and business groups, kept agreements from being struck. The Bush administration now wants to put the 1996 law to work. It has found an eager partner in Florida, which hopes to conclude an agreement soon. The State Legislature in South Carolina is considering a bill that would enable it to follow Florida's lead. Some in the administration want to go even further. The Justice Department has drafted an opinion that argues state and local authorities already have the power to arrest people for violating immigration laws. if the White House accepts this interpretation -- which would reverse both customary practice and a Justice Department legal opinion from 1996 that said local authorities should not make "arrests for civil violations of immigration law" -- the nation's 600,O00-plus local police would potentially be free to arrest illegal immigrants at will. Proponents say local police need this authority because the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which the Justice Department oversees, does not have enough agents to root out terrorists. A common fear is that someday -- it has not happened yet -- local police might be forced to let illegal immigrants they suspect of terrorism go because the I.N.S., even after the restructuring being debated now in Congress, will be too shorthanded to come get them. But it is doubtful that turning state and Local police loose on illegal immigrants will do much to stop terrorism. An estimated eight million people live in the United States illegally; the number who intend harm is small, State and local police probably would not have prevented Sept. 11 even if they had 5/9/02 Page 2 of 2 been empowered to enforce immigration laws. The 19 hijackers all entered the United States legally, and 17 of them still had valid visas on Sept. 11. W~th so few visa-violating terrorists to find, the temptation to target ordinary illegal immigrants would be great. That would do more harm than good. Arresting otherwise law-abiding people will divert police resources away from other duties. Should the police begin arresting every suspected illegal immigrant they detain at a traffic stop, they would overwhelm the immigration system. There is also a grave risk of racial profiling and civil rights abuses, not just against noncitizens but also against citizens deemed not to look "American." Such practices would undercut the progress police have made around the country to earn trust within immigrant communities. Last fall some local officials objected on just these grounds to the Justice Department's efforts to question thousands of Arab-Americans as part of the early response to Sept. 11. Police have learned that people worried about their immigration status will shun cops, not cooperate with them. They are also reluctant to ask for police protection when they truly need it. The proposed change in policy would intensify the divide between immigrants -- most of whom are here legally -- and everyone else at precisely the moment when the country should be coming together. Rewriting immigration enforcement policy isn't needed, anyway, to fight terrorism. Hiring more I.N.S. agents, which the Senate border security bill does, sufficiently addresses fears that police might one day find themselves forced to let Qaeda operatives go. That increase in staffing would preserve the traditional ~- and sensible -- division of labor between federal and state and local authorities on immigration. It would also ensure that our law enforcement efforts remain targeted where they belong: on terrorists and not immigrants. James M. Lindsay is a senior fellow and Audrey Singer is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. 5/9/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 12:23 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Check out Vera Institute of Justice I Projects I Police Assessment Resource C CJick her~ Vera Institute of Justice [ Projects I Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC)~ Publications or copy & paste in this address to access: http://www.vera.org/project/project 1 _3.asp?section_id =2&project_id=7&sub_section_id=38 See 12 page Racial Profiling paper: This short paper is a fine teaching guide on Racial Profiling and how to examine data. It will assist Oversight Boards, Staffs and Police Managers and Supervisors; Media and Other Interested Persons. 5/9/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Suelqq@aol.com Thursday, May 09, 2002 12:23 PM Update@NACOLE.org [NACOLE Update] Fwd: SF Gate: S.F. traffic stops show racial disparities/Blacks, Hispanics mu... *** eSafe scanned this email for malicious content *** IHPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders *** Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Barbara Attard [Battard@ci.berkeley.ca.us] Wednesday, May 08, 2002 3:47 PM Sue Quinn SF Gate: S.F. traffic stops show racial disparities/Blacks, Hispanics much more likely to be searched This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/O5/OS/MN244174.DTL Wednesday, May 8, 2002 (SF Chronicle) S.F. traffic stops show racial disparities/Blacks, Hispanics much more likely to be searched Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer Blacks and Hispanics face a much greater chance than whites of being searched when they are stopped by San Francisco police officers, department figures show. In a city known for its tolerance, African A~ericans are 3.5 times more likely than whites to be searched when stopped, and Hispanics are almost three times as likely to be searched. Those are some of the findings in the Police Department's first look at the race of motorists stopped by police in San Francisco. Police Chief Fred Lau acknowledged the data but said, "It's not the result of racial profiling. There are a lot of sociological factors involved, and it's a complicated issue. "Our command staff is well represented by minorities and women, and racial profiling will not be tolerated," Lau said. "In San Francisco, citizens also can voice any concerns they have through the Office of Citizen Complaints, and I have also asked my officers to report back to me community sentiments about racial profiling." The American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern about the data. "The most troubling thing is the disparate search rates. That raises a real red flag," said Mark Schlosberg, an ACLU attorney specializing in police practices. When a person is stopped, "how the officer interacts with that person should have nothing to do with race." SIMILAR FINDINGS ACROSS STATE San Francisce's study comes after other examinations of metropolitan police departments in the state, including San Jose and Oakland, that also found racial groups were treated differently. Steve Lutes, the department's longtime civilian analyst, looked at San Francisco's traffic stops from last summer through March. Last week, he shared with The Chronicle a summary of stops between July and September 2001, which he said generally reflected the trends he found: -- Blacks are stopped at a rate almost twice their representation in the population. Although blacks make up 7~9 percent of San Francisco's 766,733 population, according to Census figures, they make up almost 15 percent of traffic stops by department officers. -- Asians and Hispanics get stopped by police fewer times than their numbers in the city might indicate. With almost 31 percent of the population, Asians account for 17.8 percent of stops. Hispanics make up 14 percent of San Franciscans and 11.76 percent of stops. Whites, who constitute 44 percent of the population, make up 47.33 percent of traffic stops. -- When motorists are stopped, searches are conducted on 13.71 percent of blacks, 11.3 percent of Hispanics, 3.94 percent of whites, and 1.68 percent of Asians. -- Blacks are the least likely of any racial group in the city to be 1 stopped for a moving violation. Blacks have the greatest chance, however, of being stopped and cited for mechanical or other nonmoving violations such as failure to have proper car registration tags. -- Once motorists are stopped, an average of 2.88 percent of them end up being arrested for some violation. When blacks are stopped, 4.52 percent are arrested. Hispanics also exceed the average -- with 3.93 percent arrested after they are stopped. Only 2.62 percent of whites and 1.97 percent of Asians who are stopped are arrested. FEWER DRIVERS, FEWER ARRESTS Lutes, who has a doctorate in anthropology, said he believes that Asians and Hispanics are stopped less because they may drive cars less. "Almost all whites and blacks grew up in the Bnited States and are part of our car culture, but I suspect people who are recently arrived from outside the country may not own or drive cars at the same rate," he said. Lutes said he is convinced that no systematic racial profiling exists in the department where 42 percent of officers are members of minority groups and 16 percent are female. "I don't think this department would put up with it -- there's been a sea change within the department in the last 20 years as the department came more and more to look like the community it serves," Lutes said. But he acknowledged that he findings pinpoint disparities in how different racial groups are stopped, searched and arrested. "In a liberal, progressive city, why do you have these disparate numbers?" he asked. "These numbers seem to go beyond problems either with police or minority motorists -- reflecting multiple causes that are not that simple or easy to change," including unequal access to economic opportunities. Lutes also noted that African Americans "are far more likely to be under some sort of court-supervised parole or probation conditions that tend to produce more searches." "I can't say no officer has ever made a stop we might find objectionable," Lutes said. "But I think it would be very rare." Lutes added that one uncertainty with his data is that there is no way of knowing how many of the motorists who are stopped are San Francisco residents and how many are commuters or visitors. DISAGREEMENT ON RACE AS FACTOR Schlosberg of the ACLU said he hopes to work with the department to strengthen its policy regarding racial profiling. "The department's policy now only prohibits actions based solely on race, and very few officers do anything solely for one reason," he said. "The policy needs to be changed to prohibit use of race to any degree in determining who to stop, search and arrest except if there is a specific subject description broadcast in connection with a crime." Inspector Sherman Ackerson, speaking for the Police Department, said his agency "clearly forbids stopping anyone solely due to race, but sometimes when looking at Asian, black or Hispanic gangs or skinheads, for example, race is a factor officers have to consider before stopping someone." San Francisco's study of its traffic stop patterns comes after similar studies of other police agencies in the state. In San Jose's latest survey ~- December 2000 -- the department concluded that although blacks and Hispanics were stopped at slightly greater rates than their overall representation in the population, there were no grounds to conclude racial profiling was occurring in San Jose. The department concluded that the racial differences in its data may be partly beoause of the fact that there tend to be more calls for police help in areas where minorities are concentrated -- prompting a higher number of officers in those areas who would be making traffic stops in their free time. In Oakland, a traffic stop study is under way involving the Police Department, Rand, the NAACp and the ACLU. The ACLU reported last year that African American motorists were three times mere likely te be searched or be the subject of a traffic stops in Oakland than whites. Department spokesman George Phillips said the ACLU's announcement reflects only the first phase of a more comprehensive study "and without including the second phase, any finding is premature." E-mail Susan Sward at ssward@sfchronicle.com. TRAFFIC STOPS A police study of traffic stops from July to September 2001 found disparate 2 treatment of races in San Francisco. -- Traffic stops by race Asian 17.8% Black 14.63% Hispanic 11.76% White 47.33% Other 8.48% -- Arrests after stops Of those stopped, more blacks were arrested than any other group. Asian 1.97% Hispanic 3.93% Black 4.52% White 2.62% Other 2% Ail 2.88% -- Searches after stops Of those stopped, more blacks were searched than any other group. Asian 1.68% Black 13.71% Hispanic 11.3% Other 4.21% White 3.94% -- Major reasons for stops Of those stopped, Asians received more tickets for moving violations, but blacks received more tickets for mechanical or nonmoving violations. -- Moving violation Asian 88.86% Black 75.09% Hispanic 81% Other 81.49% White 82.76% Ail 82.41% -- Mechanical or Asian 10.58% Black 23.19% Hispanic 17.61% Other 16.92% White 16.34% Ail 16.52% nonmoving violation Source: San Francisco Police Department Chronicle Graphic Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 10:57 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Fwd: News coverage of [Houston] Press Conference *** eSafe scanned this email for malicious content *** *** IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders 5/10/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 4 From: Marilyn Head [corpus@evl,net] Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 10:02 AM To: Amnesty International, Martin Baer; C-Cubed institute - New Directions in Corrections Conf.; Campaign for Houman Development. Stephanie Weber; Common Cause Texas, CCHolt; Kay Lee, Journey of Hope; Keys of Hope; Moratorium 2000; NOW - Houston area; Pax Christi USA; Physicians for Social Responsibility, Wayne Shandera; ProTex list serve; Rainbow Houston; NACOLE; NAACP; Am-Arab Anti-Dis Corn; ACLU Houston Chapter; Mexicanos En Action Subject: News coverage of Press Conference http;~ww~_v.houston.i~dymedia.org/front,php3?article_id=3264&group--webcast (for picture) Corpus Justice Looks for Truth & Independanee by chickpea 12:26pm Wed May 8 '02 (chickpea_~hotmail.com) Corpus Justice and concerned members of the Houston community held a press conference this morning in response to the no-bill verdict of a Harris County grand jury that investigated police misconduct during the arrest which led to the death of Luis Torres and found them not-guilty of any wrong doing. When Marilyn Head and others of Corpus Justice went to CityCouncil recently with over 250 petitions asking for investigations into the police killings of Luis Torres, Jack Stewart and Victor Meza, not one city council member acknowledged receiving the petitions. This lack of response, lack of independence of the Houston Police Department's Citizens Review Committee, as well as problems with the selection of Grand Jury members and presentation of evidence under District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, were problems highlighted at the conference. Christobal Hinojosa spoke for Mexicans in Action in support of developing Independent Civilian Complaint Boards, one of the major projects of Corpus Justice: "We can't believe in this kind of justice where those responsible are free at this moment and a family is facing the death of a person who never did anything wrong in this society... We demand that this city accept a committee of civil investigators that have nothing to do with police but can investigate these types of crimes... Any jury that let the four policemen out are more criminal than the criminals themselves. Next January, the 78th Texas Legislature will be met with a campaign led by Corpus Justice to demand Independent Civilian Complaint Boards with the necessary components to be effective and establish equity in relation to police/district attorney investigations and presentations to grand juries. Included in the legislation must be financial means for staff, equipment and supplies; investigation, subpoena and enforcement power; and the right to present witness, testimony and evidence before a properly selected grand jury. Brian Cweren, former chairman of the Houston Police Department Citizens Review committee, spoke about the need for true civilian oversight. "We need citizens to feel free to step forward with their complaints without the fear of retaliation. If these steps are insufficient, we need to demand a change in our police leadership." Cweren was removed from his chairman position byHPD Chief Bradford one year prior to the expiration of his term. Bradford claims he only assigned Cweren to a two year term, but Cweren has documents indicating his term was meant to be three years. Cweren's statements were some of the most danming about the Citizen's Review Committee. He feels his removal was a result of the hard questions he asked about the discovery of a dead man behind a Houston jail 5/10/02 Page 2 of 4 and mistreatment of Hispanic prisoners. Instead of citizens who have the time and knowledge to do their job right and ask relevant questions, he argued that the board is designed to be under the thumb of the police. Also present to speak in support of a Independent Civilian Oversight Review Board in Houston were Bob Buzzanco, UH History Professor and member of the Houston Global Awareness Collective, Dave Atwood of Pax Christ (and board member of Corpus Justice), Pat Nichols of Houston Peace Forum, Don Seributra of West Fest Purist Organization, and Arlene Kelly of Civilians Down, a support group for families and friends who have lost loved ones to police violence. The president of the of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Huntsville, TX also spoke at the press conference in solidarity with others who are dealing with these issues. He noted that Huntsville has its own issues associated with police violence and that the Torres case is not unique. Head closed by saying that "civilian oversight is a civilian right, is an equity right in relation to authorities that we pay to serve us, and any authority that thinks we don't have a right to check what they're doing are wrong and we're going to make that right." Baytown Sun ww~v.baytownsun.com Activists speak out against grand jury By LIA MARTIN The Baytown Sun Published May 09, 2002 Corranunity activists speak out against Torres grand jury decision By LIA MARTIN Staff writer Houston area community activists spoke out against last week's grand jury decision that no-billed four Baytown police officers in the in-custody death of 45-year-old Mexican national Luis Torres. Groups met outside of the Family Law Center in Houston on Wednesday. Torres died on Jan. 20 on West Main Street in Baytown. He stopped breathing after police officers forcefully subdued him by striking him and using pepper-spray. The Harris County medical examiner ruled that Torres' death was a homicide due to mechanical asphyxia -- a condition where breathing is suppressed compressing the chest or airway. The three officers involved were cleared of criminal wrongdoing by a Harris County grand jury last 5/10/02 week. On Wednesday, 12 people from different organizations met with one purpose in mind: To speak out against the grand jury's decision. Robert Buzzanco, a history professor at University of Houston, said he cannot believe that something like this can take place in America. "How can we call this a democracy, if we can't oversee the people that protect us?" Buzzanco said. "This is a case where police kill people on tape." Marilyn Butler Head, president of the Houston-based non-profit organization Corpus Justice that works for the advancement of justice, spoke about civilian rights. "What we were about today is calling for citizens to go to the Texas Legislature to allow civilian oversight boards," said Head. "I want civilian oversight with guts -- to be able to present to the grand jury. There's police truth, assistant attorney truth ... and citizen truth." Head believes Torres was set up for an arrest. "That man was set up to resist arrest," she said. "When police said, 'Don't fight,' that's initiating arrest." Dave Atwood, who sits on the Corpus Justice board, said that society is becoming corrupt. "We're asking for justice," Atwood said. "We're asking for leadership." The FBI has stepped in to investigate if civil rights were impeded and federal criminal charges could be filed. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is holding a meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at 333 S. Jensen Drive at Navigation Street in Houston. The meeting is to devise a plan of action in response to the grand jury decision in the Luis Torres case. "People are not only horrified, they are angry," said Johnny Mata, LULAC spokesman. "We want to make sure we think this through and move on the appropriate course with the consensus of the Page 3 of 4 5/10/02 community. It's about time we start taking action to get proper recognition and respect." Page 4 of 4 5/10/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 10:56 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Tear Down The [Blue] Wall NY Times 5-02 Editorial Tear Down the Wall he blue wall of silence, the tradition of the police lying or looking the other way to protect their own, rose up in a Brooklyn courtroom last week. Joseph Gray, a former police officer, was convicted of manslaughter for a horrific drunken driving accident that left four young people dead. It now appears that some of Mr. Gray's colleagues may have tried to help him get off. If so, they should be dealt with in the strictest possible terms. After drinking heavily for 12 hours, Mr. Gray got behind the wheel, He struck and killed Maria Herrera, 24, her 4-year-old son, Andy, and her 16-year-old sister, Dilcia Pena. Ms. Herrera's unborn son, delivered by Caesarian section, died hours later. It emerged at trial that several of the officials investigating the incident may have tried to skew the inquiry in Mr. Gray's favor. The highway officer failed to fill out parts of the accident report. Photographs of the crime scene mysteriously turned out to be blank. And one accident investigator testified that police union officials asked him which sobriety test Mr. Gray would be most likely to "beat." New Yorkers have been hearing about the blue wall of silence since at least 1971, when Frank Serpico shocked the city with his stunning testimony about police corruption. After the assault on Abner Louima in a precinct house bathrOom in 1997, there was some hope that the police had cleaned up their act. But Mr. Gray's case casts serious doubt on that assessment. If these disturbing new charges prove true, Mayor Michael BIoomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly will have to act aggressively to show they will not tolerate officers who shield their own peers from the law. 5/10/02 Page 1 of 4 From: hector.w,soto@phila.gov < hector.w.soto@phila.gov> To: hector.w,soto@phila.gov <hector.w.soto@phila.gov> Date: Monday, May 13, 2002 11:03 AM Subject: NYTimes.com Article: Ruling May Doom Regulation on Questioning Police Officers This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by hector~w.soto@phi!a,gov. / .................... advertisement ...................... A Enjoy new investment freedom! Get the tools you need to successfully manage your portfolio from Harrisdirect. Start with award-winning research. Then add access to round-the-clock customer service from Series-7 trained representatives. Open an account today and receive a $100 credit! http://www, nytimes.com/ads/Harrisdirect, html Ruling May Doom Regulation on Questioning Police Officers May 10, 2002 By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM A much-criticized Police Department regulation that bars for two days the interrogation of officers suspected of misconduct can no longer be negotiated into the police union's contract with the city, a state hearing officer has ruled. Police officials said yesterday that they planned to use the ruling to eliminate the regulation, The police union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which represents the city's 24,000 rank-and-file officers, said it would fight to retain the often misunderstood regulation, known as the 48-hour rule. They said they would appeal the decision, which was handed down April 30 by a hearing officer with the Public Employment Relations Board. 5/13/02 The department has long sought to eliminate the regulation, contending that it has hampered investigations of some police abuses. Critics of the department contend that it adds to the perception that officers accused of crimes get special treatment. But for more than 30 years, the rule has been a part of the city's collective bargaining agreements with the officers' union, and its longevity in the face of widespread criticism had been viewed as a sign of the union's enduring political muscle. The regulation has already been eliminated for the city's four other police unions, which represent detectives, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains and other senior officials. "It is the intention of the city to see to it, as with all the other police unions, that the 48-hour rule be eliminated," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said yesterday. The rule is widely misunderstood. It gives police officers 48 hours to get legal or union representation before they are questioned by investigators from the department's Internal Affairs Bureau. But police officials contend that it seldom affects cases of misconduct that rise to the level of a crime, because statements officers make in such interviews - statements compelled under penalty of dismissal - and information derived from those statements cannot be used against them in court. As a consequence, prosecutors often ask Internal Affairs not to interview officers under investigation until an investigation is nearly completed. The hearing officer's ruling was nonetheless hailed by some state and federal prosecutors, and by other critics of the regulation. "It's a long-overdue reform that hopefully will help the truth-seeking function in police investigations," said a senior federal prosecutor who has handled a number of police corruption cases and would speak only on condition of anonymity. The rule was cited in a civil lawsuit brought against the city, the Police Department and the P.B.A. by Abner Louima after he was tortured in a station house in 1997. Lawyers for Mr. Louima, who settled the lawsuit for $7.1 million from the city and $1.6 million from the union, have argued that the rule interfered with the investigation of the officers who assaulted him and those who shot and killed Amadou Diallo in 1999. Page 2 of 4 5/13/02 "It's a critical issue," said Barry C. Scheck, one of Mr. Louima's lawyers. He praised Commissioner Kelly for moving to eliminate the rule, and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who had long opposed it. "There has to be a complete rethinking as to how officers are questioned at the scene of incidents where there is potential misconduct or a firearms discharge," Mr. Scheck said. But the police union and several police officials argued that the rule's elimination would change little because it usually comes into play only in cases of minor misconduct and violations of department policy, not in cases in which officers are accused of crimes. The union "will file an exception to the finding, which is in effect an appeal," said Albert W. O'Leary, a P.B.A. spokesman. A senior union official said the job of police officer is "probably the only profession" in which people are "forced to answer questions or face the loss of employment." Because of that, the official said, officers need this special protection. The ruling on the regulation was part of a binding arbitration hearing before a three-member panel that will determine how much the city will pay its police officers. The 45-page decision by Philip L. Maier, an administrative law judge, ruled on whether several disputed issues would be subject to the collective bargaining process. Mr. Maier wrote that the 48-hour rule could not under law be subject to the process, because the interrogation of officers is an essential part of the disciplinary process that should be determined by the police commissioner. ex=1022305671&ei=1&en=e23f66d8174a1232 Page 3 of 4 HOW TO ADVERTISE For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact on!inesales@nytimes,com or visit our online media kit at http;//www,nytimes,com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. 5/13/02 Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company Page 4 of 4 5/13/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 12:27 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Prince George's Police Blamed in Man's Death Md. Police Blamed in Man's Death .c The Associated Press PALMER PARK, Md. (AP) - Maryland's chief medical examiner has ruled that a man who died in the custody of Prince George's County police was the victim of a homicide - the third such ruling since 1999. Jason D. Smith, 20, died of asphyxiation minutes after he was restrained by officers Mamh 11, police said. The medical examiner ruled that the officers who arrested Smith were directly responsible for his death, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The medical examiner also concluded that Smith was under the influence of PCP and ephedrine, a white crystalline alkaloid used chiefly to treat asthma, hay fever and colds, police said. Smith, who police said was involved in a hit-and-run accident minutes before his arrest, is the sixth person since April 1999 to die while in the custody of police in Prince George's, a southern Maryland county just outside Washington, D.C. The state medical examiner has ruled that three of those cases were homicides. The autopsy found that Smith died after officers used enough fome to "deprive him of enough oxygen to breathe," acting Chief Gerald M. W~lson said Thursday. The officers involved are on paid administrative leave. Wilson defended them, saying that during the arrest Smith didn't comply with their demands and had his hands around an officer's threat, trying to choke him. One of the officers suffered bruises and abrasions to his neck and fractured several fingers when Smith choked and assaulted him, police said. Jack B. Johnson, Prince George's state's attorney, said a grand jury will examine the case. Johnson has blamed a "blue wall of silence" for not being able to indict county officers in the 2000 death of Elmer Clayton Newman Jr., whose death was ruled a homicide. County police broke two of Newman's ribs and two bones in his neck, according to th~ autopsy, but the five officers involved in his arrest all denied inflicting the injuries. Excessive-force lawsuits are pending against the county in two other police-custody deaths that have occurred since 1999. 5/13/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 12:45 PM To: Update@NACOLEorg Subject: [NACOLE Update] Detroit Rejects $340K Settlement to Officer w 3 Lethal Force Incidents [Detroit rejects settlement plan to officer Council refuses to pay $340,000 By Darren A. Nichols I The Detroit News DETROIT -- The Detroit City Council rejected a plan Thursday to pay police officer Eugene Brown $340,000 in exchange for his badge. Because of an arbitrator's ruling, Brown now is in line for promotion to sergeant -- despite the objection of Police Chief Jerry Oliver and the Board of Police Commissioners. The council decided by a 5-4 vote, however, to kill the settlement offer. In May 2000, a Detroit News investigation reported that Brown had killed three people and wounded six others during six years on the rome. In each case, the department and prosecutors ruled Brown acted appropriately. Over the last two years, Brown has become the focal point of the debate over whether the department is strict enough on officers who shoot civilians. Brown is suing the city in federal and state court for defamation, discrimination and denial of due process. "The repeated egregious conduct of Eugene Brown against the citizens epitomizes many of the serious, systemic problems that have plagued the Detroit Police Department in the past," Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said. "Approval of the proposed settlement in this matter sends a message that serious acts of misconduct ... are not taken seriously." Councilwoman Brenda Scott said the city's police deparment, which is trying to reshape its public image, would be better off without Brown. "In the long run, taxpayers of the city would have made out better with the $340,000, getting rid of this cancer once and for all and moving on," said Scott, who was among the four who voted in favor of the settlement offer. Sheila Cockrel, Council President Maryann Mahaffey, Barbara-Rose Collins, Kenneth Cockrel Jr. and Sharon McPhail voted against the offer. A report from ex-Deputy Chief Walter Shoulders was among the concerns with granting the payment to Brown. The council subpoenaed Oliver for an internal report on Brown and other officers who have shot civilians, but the Police Department hasn't produced it. Nor was it released to the Board of Police Commissioners. Oliver said last week he will seek the advice of corporation counsel Ruth Carter before deciding whether to turn the report over to the council. Mahaffey said holding back the report was insulting. "We should have gotten (the report) before we were asked to take a vote," Mahaffey said. "We make the policy and the fact we were not able to see the Shoulders' report is very (troubling) to me. In the future, we must have all of the information in a timely fashion in order to make a rational decision. We run a risk no matter what we do." You can reach Darren A. Nichols at (313) 222-2396 or dnichoIs~detnews, com. 5/13/02 Page 2 of 2 Settling the bill Detroit has paid more than $8 million since 1995 to settle six lawsuits in which the department cleared officers who shot citizens. They include: * In December 1999, the city decided to settle for $3.6 million a lawsuit brought by Shawnto T. Walton, 26. Walton became a quadriplegic after Sgt. Michael Martel shot him in the neck while Martel was chasing him on a traffic violation. * A jury in January 1995 awarded $2.5 million to the family of Kathy Jean Moore, 16, who was shot and killed by a Detroit police officer during a traffic stop in 1993. * A jury in January 1996 ordered the city to pay $1.45 million to Christopher Welch after he was shot in the face by Officer Mark Burke on April 7, 1994. * In 2000, a court-appointed mediation panel said $750,000 should be offered to the family of LaMar Grable, 20, who was shot to death on Sept. 21, 1996, by Officer Eugene Brown. The officer has killed two others and wounded six during his four years on the force. 5/13/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 12:54 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Give [NYC] Civilian Police Watchdog Teeth Give Civilian-Police Watchdog Teeth By CHRISTOPHER DUNN and DONNA LIEBERMAN, New York Daily News ~olice Commissioner Raymond Kelly promised last week to look into reports that some officers tried to cover up for Joseph Gray, the convicted hit-and-run cop. This step to crack down on police abuse is commendable, if not overdue. Now it's time to go further and reinvigorate a police oversight institution that has been ineffective for too long -- the Civilian Complaint Review Board. To understand the source of this ineffectiveness, turn back to Sept. 16, 1992, when thousands of off- duty officers stormed City Hall to protest a City Council bill that would move the CCRB out of the Police Department and require that all board members be civilians. Rudy Giuliani, then running to unseat Mayor David Dinkins, delivered a fiery speech at the demonstration and accused Dinkins, who supported the proposal, of being "anti-police." Notwithstanding this remarkable event -- perhaps the only time Giuliani has supported a protest at City Hall -- the City Council passed the bill, and the independent CCRB was created. After Giuliani won the election, however, one of the hallmarks of his administration was hostility to civilian oversight of allegations of police misconduct. Through his public declarations, his control over CCRB appointments and budgets and his role in the Police Department's refusal to cooperate with the CCRB, Giuliani ensured that during his eight years in office the board was a toothless watchdog. Giuliani's departure, combined with the reappointment of Kelly (who, ironically, was commissioner when the City Hall siege took place) and last month's appointment of Hector Gonzales as CCRB chairman, has created the opportunity to reap the promises of the 1992 legislation. To make the CCRB an effective monitor of policing, several actions must be taken now: The first step is for Mayor Bloomberg to support the board -- publicly and forcefully. Civilian oversight can work only if the CCRB, the police commissioner, police officers and the public all understand that the mayor demands that it work. During the Giuliani administration, CCRB investigations were substantially hampered by the NYPD's refusal to provide timely and ready access to the department records and information necessary to investigate complaints. Bloomberg must demand full cooperation with the CCRB, and Kelly and Gonzales must take all necessary steps to ensure that the CCRB and the NYPD work for effective civilian oversight. A key obstacle to effective civilian oversight lies in the fact that complaints substantiated by the CCRB are simply referred to the Police Department, where the prosecution of officers has been ineffective at best. Last year, city officials agreed to transfer prosecution responsibility to the CCRB, but that move 5/13/02 Page 2 of 2 has been blocked by a police union lawsuit. This deadlock can be broken through a bill pending in the City Council. The Bloomberg administration needs to make resolution of this situation a priority. Beyond investigating individual reports of misconduct, the CCRB can help reduce police misconduct by reporting on systemic practices that contribute to abuses. It has issued a few such reports -- for instance, on the use of pepper spray -- but only in the face of substantial interference from City Hall and opposition by the department. The board should focus more of its efforts on studies and reforms that would reduce police misconduct and improve police-community relations. Civilian oversight is central to police accountability and can yield tremendous benefits to both the public and the NYPD. Now is the time for the BIoomberg administration to undo the damage of Giuliani and support the CCRB. Dunn is assistant legal director and Lieberman is executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. 5/13/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Attard, Barbara [BAttard@ci.berkeley.ca.us] Tuesday, May 14, 2002 9:25 PM Update@NACOLE.org [NACOLE Update] Crowd Control Policy Questions The Berkeley PRC is reviewing a policy case regarding crowd control situations and arrests-- I am wondering if your jurisdictions have and written guidelines on the following: * Are there set standards for how close/far demonstrators can be kept from an arrest scene at a demonstration? ~ Are protest signs considered "property" and are they logged/returned to demonstrators after arrests? * Are pain/compliance or control holds used on non-violent passive arrestees? Thanks for your help with this-- Of course Berkeley has crowd control policies--just tweaking. Barbara Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 11:40 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] San Jose Police Struggle to Recruit Women This is important info, in light of the research showing women officers in the US use less force than male officers, and manage incidents safely using verbal skills. Posted on Mon, May. 13, 2002 __ San Jose Police struggle to recruit women By Rodney Foo San Jose Mercury News San Jose Police Chief Bill Lansdowne has identified recruitment of women as one of his priorities. Although the percentage of female officers has inched up during the last decade, fewer than 10 percent are women. As of April, women made up 9.29 percent -- a 2 percent gain since 1992 -- of the department's 1,399 sworn officers. But that is well short of the nation's and county's percentage of women in the workforce, 46 percent."l would love to have more women in law enforcement," Lansdowne recently told the city council, "and we work hard to increase the numbers. "But our research says it's not recruitment that's the problem -- it's retention." While anecdotal evidence supports Lansdowne's contention, figures supplied by the department show the opposite. From January 1998 to this February, the department hired 276 men, and 284 others left. In the past three years, the department has hired 46 new female officers while 27 other women left the force. But those numbers can be deceiving because men represent an overwhelming majority of the force. When a woman leaves, the statistical impact on the total number of female officers is much greater, said Sgt. Bruce Toney, a recruitment supervisor. Year-by-year figures show that most officers who leave are retiring. A breakdown, however, of why others -- men and women both -- are leaving was not immediately available. But police officials say the difficulty of balancing family life with the long hours officers put in has contributed to their premature departure. Stephanie Reinhardt always wanted to be a San Jose police officer, but she knew combining her job with motherhood was going to be tough."l love being in law enforcement," she said, "yet I wanted to be a mother and I wanted to be there for my children, and it was hard to do that given the hours over at the police department." After 4 1/2 years, she left for another job with stable hours and weekends off so she could start a family. Her experience is a familiar -- and expensive -- trend for San Jose police, an issue underscored by a recent outside analysis and recommendation that the department hire more women and revise recruitment strategies. The revolving door for both male and female officers has been a major and constant economic concern to the department: It costs the city almost $29,000 to train each new recruit before that officer is ready to hit the streets. There are now 34 new recruits training, eight of them women, according to the personnel unit. Lansdowne said it is important to create a force that "mirrors the community you live in - ethnically, gender-wise. Because it takes a lot of different ideas, concepts, to really provide the type of service that a city as diverse as San Jose really needs?Recruiting women is hard for any department because of the rigors and danger."There are not a lot of women who want to get up in the morning, go to work, and put on a bulletproof vest," Toney said. When young women become officers, they may overlook some of life's obstacles. But as their careers and lives mature, that youthful view vanishes like a mirage when it's confronted by the challenges of parenthood and child care."lt did cross my mind: What if I want to have a family? What do I do?" said 18-year-old Crystal Velez, an Overfelt High School senior who serves as a San Jose police cadet and intends to join the force. "But I guess because I'm so young right now, it's not a major concern to me yet." Contact Rodney Foo at rfoo@sjmercury, com or (408) 975-9346. For more info, obtain "Recruiting & Retaining Women: A Self-Assessment Guide for Law Enforcement." at this website: www.womenandpolicing.org/sag.asp 5/15/02 Marian Karr Page 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 11:40 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] [Miami] City Commission Settles Shooting; Criticizes Police Posted on Fri, May. 10, 2002 · City Commission settles shooting, criticizes police BY OSCAR CORRAL ocorra!@herald.com Before agreeing to pay $925,000 to the family of a police shooting victim, Miami city commissioners blasted the police department Thursday and vowed to carry out reform. "I'd like to know how many more millions of dollars our citizens are going to have to pay to settle cases with the police department," Commissioner Angel Gonzalez said to Police Chief Raul Martinez. "This has to come to an end. Something needs to be done." The settlement will be paid to the mother of Derrick Wiltshire, a 19-year-old killed when police shot him in the back, then allegedly planted a gun near his body in 1995. It brings the total payout in suspected police throw~down cases to $4.7 million. "This is not a case we're proud of," Martinez said. Most commissioners expressed their support for Martinez, but said they were frustrated at the slow pace of reform. Gonzalez and Commission Chairman Tomas Regalado lashed out at Martinez after he said morale in the police department was Iow because the department had the Civilian Investigative Panel "shoved down its throat." Regalado cut him off, telling the chief that 78 percent of voters approved the concept of the panel to investigate police misconduct allegations and that the police department "had brought it upon themselves." The commission voted two months ago to give the panel stronger powers than the police union wanted. Commissioner Joe Sanchez pointed out that the police department had yet to move its Internal Affairs Unit to a separate office, a move some believe will help lift the "blue wall of silence" that often discourages police from blowing the whistle on bad cops. Martinez said he would make the move as soon as possible. Commissioner Johnny Winton urged City Manager Carlos Gimenez to hire a consultant to do a "top to bottom" assessment of the police department, a move that has been talked about for years. Gimenez said he would have a consultant for the job within 90 days. Commissioner Arthur Teele Jr. also proposed holding a workshop in July to talk about police reform. 5/15/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 11:40 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Chicago Judge Bars '97 File; Delays Deputies' Trial [Chicago] Judge bars '97 file, delays deputies' trial BY CARLOS SADOVl CRIMINAL COURTS REPORTER Chi Sun Times May 14, 2002 Criminal Court Judge Clayton J. Crane on Monday put off until today the scheduled start of bench trials for four off-duty Cook County sheriffs deputies and a former deputy who allegedly chased and shot at a black couple in 1999.Crane acted after barring prosecutors from bringing up an earlier alleged racially motivated motor-vehicle stop made by one of the officers. Assistant Cook County State's Attorneys Tom Bilyk and Maria Burnett asked for the delay after Crane denied their request to bring up a 1997 incident in which Sgt. Thomas Lanigan allegedly ordered an African-American man at gunpoint to hand over his car keys before lobbing racist statements at h[m.'Tm hero to deal with the case at hand," Crane said.An internal sheriffs investigation found the 1997 allegation against Lanigan, 37, wasn't crodible, sheriffs spokesman Bill Cunningham said. Along with Lanigan--nephew of high-ranking sheriffs supervisor Terry Lanigan, who was Sheriff Mike Sheahan's partner when the two served in the Chicago Police Department--deputy Anthony Bohling, 34, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and official misconduct for a June 2, 1999, incident. Being tried with them are Andrew Remus, 39; Daniel Troike, 29, and ex-deputy Robert Jones, 32, who is charged with official misconduct and obstruction of justice. In the 1999 incident, the men allegedly began chasing Cory Simmons and Dominique Mapp of Blue Island, who were driving a Ford Expedition at 167th and Pulaski when they allegedly cut offa Chevy Suburban driven by Bohling. The deputies were off-duty and had been to a cocktail fund-raiser and another bar before allegedly giving chase for about 30 minutes. The chase allegedly continued through four southern suburbs until they reached Robbins and Lanigan began shooting at the couple. During a court hearing on Monday, Bilyk argued that prosecutors on May 6 obtained internal investigation paperwork on the 1997 incident. Lanigan allegedly had pulled over a 41-year old African-American man identified in court papers as "Mr. Burton" in the south suburbs without cause. "It shows a racial bias," Bilyk said. "It clearly shows hostility," he said.The stop was made in front of Burton's home. Lanigan walked out of his unmarked police car with his gun drawn, ordering Burton to hand over his keys. When Burton complained of being harassed, Lanigan allegedly said, "Who do you think you are, nigger," according to court papers. Burton answered, "i'm a human being" and Lanigan allegedly responded, "You are less than human." Court papers indicated that Lanigan searched the man's car, gave him three tickets and did not return the man's car keys. Bilyk said he was prepared to have Burton and his wife testif7 about the allegation. But Lanigan's lawyer, Patrick Tuite, said the internal investigation cleared Lanigan of the 1997 incident and added there was no evidence that Lanigan was making racist comments in the 1999 incident. He said prosecutors chose not to charge the officers with a hate crime because there was no evidence to support it. Tuite also said Lanigan was merely a passenger in the incident?Mr. Lanigan chased no one on that particular night. He was a passenger," Tuite said. 5/15/02 Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 11~40 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA Presecurtors Seek Discipline Files of Police http:~!atimes'c~m~ne~s~I~ca!~!a~34~29may14~st~ry?~]!=]a%~Dhead~ines%2Dca!!f~rnia Los Angeles D.A. to Seek Discipline Files of Police Trials: Under a new policy, prosecutors will ask for a review of personnel records, and a judge will decide what is to be disclosed. By STEVE BERRY and JEAN GUCCIONE TIMES STAFF WRITERS May 14 2002 Staking out new duties for prosecutors, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley decided Monday that his office will take the lead role in obtaining the disciplinary records of police officers who are scheduled to testify in criminal cases. The new policy calls for creation of a computer databank with information that might cast doubt on an officer's credibility. Cooley's "special directive" issued Monday requires prosecutors who become suspicious to formally request a review of any officer's personnel files. When officers with a history of misconduct are needed in court, Cooley directed his prosecutors to ask judges to decide what information will be disclosed to the defense. "There's a good deal of interest throughout California in what L.A. County is doing" because few other counties have such policies or databanks, said Larry Brown, executive director of the California District Attorneys Assn. The Santa Barbara district attorney's office has established a databank, but police representatives have sued, claiming it violates their privacy. Reaction from defense lawyers ranged from praise to strong denunciation. "They're knuckling under to the police union," said Deputy Public Defender Mark Harvis, referring to the union's traditional resistance to opening up police personnel files. "The databank is not a big breakthrough ... because the amount of information in it will be so limited and very restrictive." Defense lawyer Gigi Gordon said the policy "does not go far enough," but she said she is still impressed. "1 think it's revolutionary that they did anything," Gordon said. A top LAPD officer called it a positive step. The policy seeks to quiet long-running disputes between the district attorney's office and defense lawyers over what information prosecutors must turn over under state and federal laws that require prosecutors to reveal information that may help the defendant. Going back to the 1991 Christopher Commission report, which addressed LAPD problems after the beating of Rodney King, police have resisted efforts to reveal disciplinary histories, while civil libertarians have generally called for greater disclosure. More recently, authorities determined that part of the disciplinary record of Rafael Perez, the convicted drug thief at the center of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart controversy, had not been disclosed and was not used to impeach him when he testified in cases before the scandal. Would Not Have Prevented Rampart Erwin Chemerinsky, a USC law professor, said the new policy would not have prevented the Rampart Division scandal. Officers were caught lying in court, planting evidence and committing other misdeeds in Rampart's anti-gang unit. "It might have helped expose Rampart sooner by bringing to light ... the [officers'] disciplinary records," Chemerinsky said. 5/15/02 Page 2 of 2 Cooley's predecessor, Gil Garcetti, proposed a databank during his last few months in office, prompting a lawsuit by the Police Protective League that claimed it violated police privacy. Cooley killed Garcetti's databank idea shortly after he took office in December 2000, and formed a committee of prosecutors, police officers and a representative of defense lawyers, including Gordon, to devise the new policy. Gordon dropped off that committee several months ago. In California, the onus is on defense lawyers to seek information from an officer's personnel file if they suspect those records contain information that would raise questions about the officer's credibility. In such cases, the Police Department is required to submit the personnel file to the judge, who reviews it and determines what information should be disclosed. Under Cooley's policy, the judge will still do that. But prosecutors will take a lead role, although they will not be allowed to rummage through police personnel files. Whenever prosecutors suspect a police witness' personnel file may contain information that could help the defendant, they formally request the police agency to search the officers' records for such material. If the agency finds data helpful to the defense, prosecutors will be required to file a formal motion in court asking that the police agency be ordered to provide the file for review by a judge. LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Bostic called the policy "a step in the right direction." But he said it leaves some questions unanswered, and may raise others. The LAPD has some 9,000 officers, and their personnel records are kept confidential. So it's unclear how prosecutors would know when they needed to seek additional information, Bostic said. The department has restricted the duties of officers whose court testimony might be vulnerable to challenges. The officers affected were chiefly those with disciplinary histories that involved perjury or falsification of documents. They were taken out of jobs that required them to make arrests, to ensure their disciplinary records did not jeopardize prosecutions. That policy has been highly controversial within the LAPD, and was criticized by the officers union. It is also the subject of an ongoing lawsuit against the department. Cooley's new directive also requires prosecutors to ask the judge to issue orders forbidding the defense from sharing any disclosed information with other lawyers, or use it in any other case. Value of Information Limited, Attorney Says Harvis, who is an appellate attorney for the public defender's office, said that provision severely limits the value of the databank. Moreover, he said, the databank will unnecessarily exclude most complaints filed against an officer unless the evidence in the complaint meets an extremely high standard of proof. Under the new policy, disciplinary information will not be used unless the police agency or the district attorney's office determines the evidence against the officer is "clear and convincing," a legal standard just below the reasonable doubt guideline juries must use in determining the guilt or innocence of a defendant in a trial. Harvis said most defense lawyers will not rely on Cooley's directive because the policy allows prosecutors in many cases to decide when confidential information will be sought. Times staff writer Jill Leovy contributed to this report. 5/15/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2002 10:25 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] 1. LAPD Not Making Reforms, Says Monitor; 2. Chief Says He'll Investigate httpl//www.lati~es~com/news/Iocal/la-O00034270mayl 5~story?co!!=!a%2Dhead!ines%2Dcalifomia LOS ANGELES LAPD Not Making Reforms, Monitor Says Report: Overseer contends some officers are undermining the federal consent decree. By TINA DAUNT LA TIMES STAFF WRITER May 15 2002 Los Angeles Police Department officials have failed to make changes mandated by the federal consent decree governing the LAPD and, in some instances, have belittled and undermined efforts to overhaul the agency, according to the latest report by the LAPD's court-appointed monitor. That report will be filed today with U.S. District Judge Gary Feess. He has the authority to punish officials for failing to comply with the decree, which the city entered into last year to head off a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice. In the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, Michael Cherkasky and his monitors at Kroll Associates concluded that the LAPD has made progress in some areas, moving to construct a computerized system to track potential problem officers, for instance, and swiftly investigating use-of-force incidents involving police. But Cherkasky also found that the LAPD has failed to implement major aspects of the consent decree, including tracking racial data on pedestrian and traffic stops. The report faulted the LAPD for its handling of confidential informants and its efforts to track and thwart street gangs, among other things. "The LAPD is non-compliant with a number of provisions of the consent decree," according to the report. "Of equal or greater seriousness is the presence of a vocal minority inside the LAPD that continue to fight to preserve the insular culture that led to the adoption of the decree. "They believe there is no problem with the LAPD, the problem is with 'outsiders.' "These 'outsiders' are portrayed as uninformed, biased, politically motivated, greedy and/or incompetent interlopers," the report said. "These officers do an enormous disservice to the majority of the LAPD and the community and negatively impact an institution they purport to love-the LAPD-- and a cause they risk their lives for--public safety," the report added. "This must and will change." Although the report did not identify the officers involved, it stated that some are members of the LAPD's Consent Decree Task Force, the group responsible for seeing that the Po[ice Department implements the decree's provisions. Months ago, Mayor James K. Hahn said he would oppose Chief Bernard C. Parks' bid for a second term because the mayor questioned whether the chief was doing enough to implement the decree. Expressing similar worries, the Police Commission voted 4 to 1 last month to deny Parks a second five-year term. Parks stepped down two weeks ago. Warned of some of the monitor's impending conclusions, Hahn in recent days has urged the commission and interim Chief Martin Pomerey to immediately address the problems, according to some city officials. The city entered into the consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice last June amid allegations that the LAPD for years engaged in a "pattern or practice" of civil rights violations. With an interim chief now at the helm and the city seeking to fill Parks' position, the issue of compliance with the decree is 5/16/02 Page 2 of 3 expected to play a central role in the search for a new chief. Hahn, who will select the nominee for chief from choices given to him by the Police Commission, has said that he is searching for candidates who will enthusiastically embrace the decree's mandates. Cherkasky--a former New York City prosecutor who took on John Gotti and the mob--has released two previous repods on the LAPD's progress, generally giving the department a passing grade while raising specific concerns about its determination to embrace the decree. This time around, Cherkasky struck a more critical tone, identifying a number of areas where he said that the LAPD and those responsible for overseeing it are falling behind on their legal obligations. Some of his findings include: * The data entry of information on the ethnicity of those involved in pedestrian and motor vehicle stops is critically and seriously backlogged, making it impossible for the department to determine whether racially based stops are being made. * The department produced audits on excessive force and other topics that the monitor concluded were "seriously flawed and many substantive errors were made." * The LAPD's database of police informants has mistakes and lists some informants who have died, raising "questions regarding the accuracy of the information maintained in this system." * Members of the LAPD are publicly denigrating the measures mandated by the decree, actions that the monitor concluded "represent a deliberate effort to create resistance to the consent decree." Of all the preblems it cited, the team found the officers' attitudes toward the decree most disturbing. At one meeting, an officer attempted to distance the LAPD from the decree. "This is not with the Police Department," the report quotes the officer as saying. "This is with the feds and the city about the Police Department. We are not controlling this. It is coming out of the mayor's office ....The LAPD is the biggest fish that the [Department of Justice] ever got on the line. They got us." Another officer said the reforms were "unnecessary and time-consuming," Cherkasky wrote. Cherkasky also documents a number of personal slights directed at him and his team. http:~lwww~Iatimes~c~m~ne~s~ca~la-~34495may16~st~ry?c~=la%2Dhead~ines%2Dca~if~rnia LOS ANGELES Chief to Investigate Charges of Officers Belittling Reform Decree: He says he wants to find those who allegedly made negative statements about the federal order. Mayor also expresses anger. By TINA DAUNT TIMES STAFF WRITER May 16 2002 The Los Angeles Police Department's new interim chief launched an investigation Wednesday into allegations that officers have publicly undermined support for federally mandated police reforms, while Mayor James K. Hahn said he was "angry" that police officials have failed to implement some provisions of the decree that spells out those requirements. The independent monitor overseeing the implementation of the consent decree concluded that the LAPD has fallen behind schedule in implementing a number of measures, including tracking racial data on pedestrian and traffic stops, says a report filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. Monitor Michael Cherkasky, with Kroll Associates, also cited several instances in which officers working on a special task force to implement the decree publicly denigrated the court-mandated reforms. Cherkasky said those remarks betrayed 5/16/02 Page 3 of 3 official ambivalence about the decree and served to erode public backing for it. Although Cherkasky said in his report that he heard some remarks himself, he did not name the officers responsible for them. Martin Pomeroy, interim chief of the Police Department, said Wednesday that the department will try to find out who they were. "If there is one place where we have let ourselves and the community down, that would be in those instances where the monitor said that some of our people have not had the best attitude about complying with the consent decree," he said. "We launched an immediate investigation. We will find out who made those statements and have an appropriate reaction." Hahn also called on the department to act. "1 was very angry when I read the monitor's findings," Hahn said. "The attitude needs to change in the LAPD from one of hostility to one of really finishing the job." According to the report, officers assigned to the LAPD's Consent Decree Task Force, the group responsible for seeing that the department implements the provisions of the decree, complained during public meetings that the reforms were "unnecessary and time-consuming." The officers also alleged that the reforms were being imposed on the department by "outsiders." Cherkasky also faulted the LAPD for its handling of confidential informants and its efforts to track and thwart street gangs, among other things. The monitor's report was filed Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Gary Feess, who has the authority to punish the city for failing to comply with the decree. Feess is expected to hold a hearing on the matter in the coming weeks. Los Angeles officials entered into the decree last year to head off a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, which accused the LAPD of "a pattern or practice" of civil rights violations. Months ago, Hahn said he would oppose Chief Bernard C. Parks' bid for a second term because he questioned whether the chief was doing enough to implement the reforms outlined in the decree. Expressing similar worries, the Police Commission voted 4 to 1 last month to deny Parks a second five-year term. Parks stepped down two weeks ago. 5/16/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 11:22 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Providence Ex Chief Admits Favoritism & Corrupted Promotional Tests EX-POLICE CHIEF ADMITS FAVORITISM; SOME IN PROVIDENCE GIVEN ANSWERS ON PROMOTIONAL EXAMS Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company The Boston Globe...05/14/2002 By Brian C. Mooney, GLOBE STAFF PROVIDENCE - A former Providence Police chief admitted yesterday he provided "study materials" with test answers to a few officers before they took promotional examinations. TestifTing under a forced grant of immunity from prosecution in the corruption trial of Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., retired Colonel Urbano Prignano Jr. gave varying descriptions of the help he gave to several favored subordinates, but in one or two cases, he provided what he called "the source," and it included a key with test answers.'Tm not proud of that," Prignano said. "it's one of my dark days in 34 years in the police department... Sometimes, your heart controls your head." Prignano said he had responded to a request from police union officials that he help a woman who previously had been bumped offa sergeant promotional list. Prignano said he gave similar assistance to two or three others, including one candidate for captain, who was a Cianci favorite. Rigged promotions have long been a source of conflict in the 450-member Providence force, but they are not directly related to the charges against Cianci and three codefendants. One of those defendants, tow company operator Richard E. Autiello, is accused of soliciting a $ 5,000 bribe in 1996 from a woman seeking help for her softs application for the Providence police academy. But Assistant US Attorney Richard W. Rose's examination veered into the other murky areas of police personnel policy. Prignano, who retired 16 months ago, received a grant of immunity last Wednesday from Judge Ernest C. Torres, the US District Court judge presiding over the Cianci racketeering, bribery, and extortion trial, now in its fourth week. Several times yesterday, Prignano said he could not recall details. But he testified that he knocked Joseph Maggiacomo III out of a 1998 recruit class after another commander informed him that Maggiacomo had lied about his criminal record in an interview. Nevertheless, Maggiacomo's name kept resurfacing on the recruit list, he said, until he finally ordered it off. Maggiacomo's mother, Mary, had testified earlier that she paid Autiello $ 5,000 in 1996 for help in winning a spot in that year's training class. Maggiacomo dropped out of that academy after being injured, and a subsequent criminal background check turned up the information that led to his disqualification. Prignano testified that Autie[Io and Providence Police Captain John Ryan tried unsuccessfully to urge him to reconsider, but the chief said he told them: "Even if it was my nephew, I wouldn't put him on."No one has contradicted Mre. Maggiacomo's testimony that she paid Autiello the $ 5,000. But thus far, there has been no testimony or evidence that Autiello, who is not a public official, passed along money to Cianci, his former chief aide and codefendant Frank E. Corrente, or anyone else. 5/23/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 10:16 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Fallout: Chief: "It's A Wake Up Call;" Mayor Wants Answers; Fix-It Plans Start 'A WAKE-UP CALL' S.F. police chief promises changes after report that department solves only 28% of violent crimes Jaxon Van Derbeken, David Parrish, Chronicle Staff Writers Tuesday, May 21, 2002 ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle URL: http:~~www.sfgate.c~m~cgi~bin~artic~e.cgi?f=-~chr~nic~e~a~2~~2~~5~21~MN18558~~DTL San Francisco -- San Francisco Police Chief Fred Lau premised Monday to revamp his department's Bureau of Inspectors after a Chronicle investigation showed that the department stumbles badly when it comes to solving violent crimes. "It's a wake-up call," Lau said of The Chronicle's finding that the San Francisco Police Department solved only 28 percent of the city's violent crimes from 1996 through 2000. "1 know there are things we can do better," Lau said. "1 want to attack all violent crimes .... The criminals can rest assured that we are not stopping our investigation. The crooks should kn ow, we're not going to stop coming after them." The Chronicle found that one reason the SFPD ranks last among America's 20 largest cities for solving violent crime is that it doesn't assign an inspector to investigate nearly 70 percent of San Francisco robberies and aggravated assaults - nonfatal shootings, stabbings and beatings. Those cases are just stamped "inactive" and packed away in boxes. "It's outrageous, and it demands a response," said Supervisor Gavin Newsom of The Chronicle's findings. "If Lau doesn't come up with a plan immediately, you have to question his status ." Newsom said Monday that he has asked the legislative analyst's office to investigate how police in San Diego and other cities operate and whether there are ideas the SFPD can adopt Both Lau and Newsom are considered possible candidates in the next mayoral race. CALL FOR PUBLIC HEARING Board President Tom Ammiano and Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, chairman of the supervisors committee that oversees police services, said there should be a public hearing to review the SFPD's practices on the investigation of violent crimes. "1 want to make sure the issues raised in the series are asked," Sandoval said. SFPD Sgt. Reno Rapagnani, an inspector and the department's legal adviser, said Monday that changes are already being considered in the department. The practice of stamping reports "inactive" and filing them away instead of following up with investigations runs counter to the SFPD's emphasis on community-based policing, he said. "We have to come up with a way so that every person gets contacted or that we come to them," Rapagnani said. "We need to improve there, in keeping with the community policing model." MORE COMMUNITY OUTREACH A plan is being developed to redirect resoumes to the units that investigate violent crimes, Lau said. "We have to coordinate better between patrol and the (Inspectors) Bureau," Lau said. The new plan, he said, involves more outreach into the community, more follow-up and better tracking of police reports. "We are working on a bunch of issues," Lau said. Two years ago, Lau said, he met with Assistant Police Chief Earl Sanders and Deputy Chief Mindy Pengel about the status of the once-vaunted investigative arm of the department. "1 gave them directions to turn it into a community- based policing bureau -- which means talking to people, more victim witness assistance and building our community partnerships," Lau said, recounting the meeting. "We want to make t he system work for them." He said his staff never reported back about any problems in implementing his vision. Lau said he was unaware of the volume of cases being filed away without any investigation. "1 didn't know the extent of it," he said. "Now that I know, it is my responsibility to increase resources and give them some of the things they feel that they need." He said "there are some items in the (The Chronicle) report that will cause us to have the bureau heads get together and develop a very conscientious plan to provide better services for the community." QUESTION OF BUDGET The chief added that he will also be requesting help at City Hall, asking the Board of Supervisors to turn back what he said is a 10 percent budget cut considered for the Police Department in the next fiscal year. Ammiano said Lau will have to make his case to the board on any proposed budget cut for the department, but the board president questioned whether the SFPD's problems are money related. "Is that all about money, or is it about more than money -- that is what the hearings will be for," he said. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick said he supports a hearing into SFPD problems. He added, though, that the police budget probably will not be cut and more likely will be increased by about 3 percent. All city public safety budgets probably will be spared the ax, he said. Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, whose constituents include residents of Bayview- Hunters Point, said solving violent crime has not been a priority in her district. "You have to, at some point, look at management," Maxwell said. Supervisor Chris Daly said the department should focus on investigating violent crime rather than dedicating resources to "nickel-and-dime stuff' related to homeless enforcement and drug busts that he said are ineffective in the long run. Supervisor Tony Hall said this is a time to support the 5/23/02 Page 2 of 3 department, which, he said, is frequently maligned and attacked by the community. "A lot of people, no matter what happens, it is the department's fault," he said. 'Tm sure the problems will be addressed. My position is to support them in hel ping to address these problems." E-mail the walters atjvanderbeken~_~sfchronicle.com and dparrish@sfchronicle,co~. ©2002 Ban Fran~isce Chronic!e Page A - 1 S.F. mayor wants answers from police brass Brown backs chief despite unsolved violent crimes Edward EPstein, J~xon Van Derbekenl Chronicle Staff Writem_ Wednesday, May 22, 2002 D2002 San Francisco Chronicle URL: http:~~www.sfgate.c~m~cgi~bin~artic~e.cgi?f=-~chr~nic~e~a~2~~2~~5~22~MN153556.DTL __ Washington -- Mayor Willie Brown said Tuesday that he was "surprised by the numbers" in a Chronicle series showing that San Francisco police rank poe rly in solving violent crimes, and he vowed to seek an explanation from department brass. But he expressed complete confidence in Police Chief Fred Lau, whom Brown appointed upon becoming mayor in January 1996. Based on a computer analysis of cases, The Chronicle found that San Francisco police solve or clear just 28 percent of the city's violent crimes and that about 70 percent of reported robberies and serious assaults -- nonfatal shootings, stabbings and beatings -- are never investigated. "Frankly, I was quite surprised by the numbers, if they're accurate. You always have to put that caveat on because numbers are subject to almost anyone's interpretation," said Brown, who was attending a U.S. Conference of Mayors housing policy meeting in Washington, D.C "But by any interpretation, one murder unsolved is too many," he said. The articles reported that the San Francisco Police Department solved about half the murders that occur in the city, ranking among the worst among the nation's big cities. Asked about the department's failure to investigate a large percentage of serious crimes, Brown said, "1 hope the Police Department will find a way to find a solution to every criminal incident in the city." BROWN WANTS THE FACTS Several members of the Board of Supervisors have called for public hearings into the apparent crime-solving problems. But Brown said he wants to give his chiefs "the opportunity to inform me about what they believe to be the facts." "Frankly, i'm interested in their explanation," he said. Brown questioned the notion by the department's brass that police should emphasize suppressing crime over investigating it. "This is not just a matter of choices," he said. But Brown said Lau can stay on as chief. "1 have confidence in Lau," he said. The mayor added, however, that neither Lau nor Assistant Chief Earl Sanders ever told him about problems in violent crime investigations. Lau, who has called the series a "wake-up call" and promised reforms, said Tuesday that he will dispatch San Francisco police officials to San Diego. The Chronicle found that city's department was the best-performing in the nation, solving 64 percent of violent crimes from 1996 to 2000. 'Tm going to send some people down and grab some things they do," Leu said. "But people have to realize that there's going to be costs." The chief stressed that while the department can learn from San Diego's example, change can occur only with the help of everyone in the criminal justice system. Lau said he spoke to Supervisor Gavin Newsom Tuesday as well as District Attorney Terence Hallinan and Hallinan's chief assistant, Paul Cummins. D.A.'S HELP NEEDED Lau said he wants Hallinan to commit to an on-call homicide prosecutor to help investigators at crime scenes. He said district attorney investigators should also be brought in to ease the workload of police after suspects are arrested. "It isn't iust us. We need the mst of the criminal justice system helping us," Lau said. With more resources, he said, "1 am very confident we will meet and exceed San Diego's statistics. "Some people who are second-guessing us now, I have been pleading with them to give us resources we need, the support we need," Lau said. "We just have to keep at them." In February, Lau sent a memo to the Police Commission outlining the the bleak budget situation. "Clearly, these economic Iimes allow for no new initiatives. We will do more with less," Lau said, adding that he sees the challenges ahead as 'oppor[unities to become a better and a more efficient Police Department." Hallinan said he, too, has restrictions on his budget but is willing to offer prosecutors to help homicide investigators on an on-call basis. "San Francisco does have a shortage of criminal justice resources, there's no question about that," Hallinan said. "But we're not doing the best with what we have." Hallinan faulted the Police Department's practice of filling key investigative positions on the basis of time an officer has spent on a wait- list for those assignments, rather than on ability and performance This system, required under an agreement with the police union, is "inappropriate," Hallinan said. The district attorney said his office can't help police with the rebooking process. "We don't have the resources to do that," he said.."lf their resources are not enough, imagine what ours are." NEWSOM'S RESERVATIONS 5/23/02 Page 3 of 3 Newsom, who met informally with police inspectors this week about the issues raised by The Chronicle's series, said he applauds the chief's willingness to learn from San Diego as a first step. But, he said, he wants Lau to show that he has explored cost savings and reforms first before coming for more money. "1 don't run the department, I'm not going to second guess the chief," he said. "It seems to me, with the discrepancies in terms of follow-up and follow- through, a lot of people have been left behind and not served appropriately. "There has to be a way to address it," he said. 'Tm not convinced there is not the resources to begin the process of reform." The Board of Supervisors should support the chief if he can make the case that he needs more resourc es, Newsom said, "but only if he has shown he has exhausted other means." Edward Epstein reported from Washington, D.C., and Jaxon Van Derbeken from San francisco. ~E-mail the writers at eepstein@sfchronicle, com and jvanderbeken~sfchronicle~com. Chief offers 3-month plan for improving S.F. Police Dept. Jaxon Van Derbeken~ Chronicle Staff Write[ Thursday, May 23, 2002 ©2002 San Francisco ~hronide URL: http;/~www~sfgate~c~m/cgi~bin~artic~e~cgi?f=~chronic~e~a~2~2~5/23~MN241~35~DTL Responding to The Chronicle's series faulting his department's poor track record in solving violent crime, Police Chief Fred Lau outlined a three- month action plan to the San Francisco Police Commission on Wednesday. "As your chief of police, it is my responsibility, ultimately, to resolve the situation," Lau told the five-member commission at its regular meeting. "All the concerns brought up in the articles, I believe I can address," Lau said, proposing a variety of means to improve the system, ranging from restructuring the ranks to reorganizing the courts to make room for more cases to be handled at night. Using data the city provided to the FBI from 1996 through 2000, The Chronicle found that the SFPD ranked last among the 20 largest U.S. cities by solving only 28 percent of violent crimes. In addition, the data show that 70 percent of the city's reported robberies and assaults were not investigated at all. Commission President Sidney Chan wondered whether the chief was "a little bit too optimistic" in some of his immed late goals, but he expressed support for the chief. "1 think the Police Department is doing a good job, (but) yes, there's room for improvement," added Commissioner Wayne Friday, who praised the command staff of the department. QUESTIONS FROM A COMMISSIONER Commissioner victor Makris also supported the chief, but wanted to know what the department is doing to assure people that crimes are being looked at, even if it is simply to inform them that the case can't go forward for lack of evidence. The Chronicle found that in 70 percent of robbery and assault cases, the department simply stamps them "inactive" and files them away without further action. Makris said the department needs to keep people informed about the status of their cases. "1 think that information is extremely important for people to get their own closure," Makris said. Inactive cases should be reviewed to see which ones might be reopened and resolved in the short term, Lau said. But he cautioned that many of the long- term aspects of his plan will take more people, money and equipment, as well as greater cooperation among departments in the criminal-justice system. "We need more police officers, not less," Lau said.. "We need more inspectors, not less." In outlining his three-month plan, the chief said he first intends to review the statistics to make sure they are accurate when compared with the other city police departments reviewed by the newspaper. MORE PATROL OFFICERS NEEDED Next, the chief said, he wants to use more patrol officers to help inspectors find victims and witnesses, and then review some of the old cases that have not been followed up on in hopes of clearing them. But, he cautioned, "1 don't want to clear cases just to clear cases." Within the next 60 days, Lau said, he wants to have reports back from those he is sending on fact-finding trips to San Diego and the counties of Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara. San Diego has the highest rate of success among the big cities in solving violent crime, The Chronicle found. Lau told commissioners he wants help from district attorney investigators to speed the way suspects are processed after being arrested, a time- consuming process known as rebooking. "We have a commitment from the district attorney's office to work with us," Lau said. District Attorney Terence Hallinan, however, has deemed the idea unworkable under existing budget limitations. Lau said he has been "reinvigorated" in his long-standing desire to create a night court to help reduce the case backlog.. Within three months, Lau said, he wants to create a larger pool of people who can do investigative work. He plans to look into combining the rank of sergeant and inspector -- a plan opposed by the police union in the past. He also spoke of the need for a better computer system to track reports. E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken atjvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com. 5/23/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 10:14 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] SF: Comparison with San Diego Where Solving Crimes a Priority WHERE SOLVING CRIMES TAKES TOP PRIORITY San Diego police outshine San Francisco's with fewer officers per capita and more ground to cover David Pardsh, Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writers T~d~y, May 2~ ~06~ ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle URL: http:/Iwww.sfgate.comlcgi-binlarticle.cgi?f=/chronicle/a12002/O5121/MN88200.DT Last of Three Parts. San Francisco and San Diego are on the opposite ends of the scale when it comes to dealing with violent crime. San Diego police rank first for solving violent crime among policing agencies serving the nation's 20 largest cities. San Francisco police rank last. On average, San Diego police solved 64 percent of that city's violent crime - murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults - between 1996 and 2000, analysis shows. San Francisco police solved 28 percent. Unlike San Francisco police, San Diego police make solving such crimes the top priority. "Crimes against people are serious events," said Sgt. Gary E. Mitrovich, who oversees detectives working in San Diego's busy Mid-City Division. "You have a da ngerous person out there in the street. We should take more effort to solve these crimes." A Chronicle review of both departments found profound differences in their investigative practices. San Diego has detailed investigative standards for each type of violent crime, frequently reviews the performance of its detectives and selects investigators based on demonstrated ability. San Francisco has few written investigative standards, virtually no formal performance reviews and assigns inspectors to the various violent crime units based on how long their names have been on a list - not ability.. San Francisco police officials have begun looking at how the San Diego Police Department operates and whether the SFPD can benefit from similar approaches. "We realize changes need to be made," said San Francisco Assistant Police Chief Earl Sanders. "We are looking for the causes and instituting remedies." In every category of solving violent crime, San Diego police far outperform their counterparts in San Francisco. Under FBI standards regarding clearance rates, police just have to make an arrest to claim a crime as solved or cleared. It Udoesn't matter what happens in court. Police also can list a crime as solved for "exceptional" reasons - for example, the suspect is dead or in jail elsewhere, extradition is denied or the victim won't cooperate against a named suspect. San Diego solved 36 percent of reported robberies, while San Francisco solved 20 percent, according to a five-year average from 1996 to 2000, the most recent data available. Of rapes, San Diego solved 54 percent to San Francisco's 32 pement. Of aggravated assaults - nonfatal stabbings, shootings and beatings - San Diego solved 75 percent to San Francisco's 38 percent. San Diego homicide detectives solved about 64 percent of their city's murders, while San Francisco police solved half. "We catch the stupid and the unlucky. A lot of people get away with it," said Lt. Henry Hunter, supervisor of San Francisco's General Work detail, charged with investigating all of the city's nonfatal shootings, stabbings and beatings. Neither city is particularly violent. San Francisco has 10 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and San Diego has 7.1. By comparison, Baltimore has 27. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES There are some limits to the comparison between San Francisco and San Diego. San Francisco is the proverbial melting pot of people from throughout the world, with no race or ethnicity making up a majority of the population. Its 777,000 residents live in one of the densest and most liberal cities in the country. Many violent crimes are committed 5/23/02 Page 2 of 3 near public housing projects, where witnesses fear retaliation if they come forward. San Diego is far from homogeneous, but its historical mixture of Anglo and Latino cultures defines the city. Its 1.2 million residents are spread out from crowded beach communities to rural farms. San Diego still clings to a law-and-order sensibility passed on from decades past when it was predominantly a military town. Its police have to contend with suspects fleeing across the international border into Mexico - never to be seen again. MORE INVESTIGATORS The police forces in the two cities are about the same size. San Diego has slightly fewer officers than San Francisco, 2,140 to 2,265 respectively That gives San Francisco significantly more officers per 1,000 residents, 2.9, than the 1.7 officers in San Diego. Despite its fewer officers per capita, San Diego police still have more investigators than San Francisco. Overall, San Diego has more than 430 detectives, while SFPD has about 313 inspectors - more than 70 of which are assigned to noninvestigative duties such as department administration. For the current fiscal year, SFPD's budget is $246.8 million, excluding the $26 million spent on security for San Francisco International Airport. The budget for the San Diego Police Department, which does not provi de airport security, is $280.7 million. Because San Diego has nearly 60 percent more residents, San Francisco's annual cost per capita, $317.79, for police services is significantly higher than San Diego's $229.49. Both cities have experienced a significant drop in violent crime in recent years, although San Francisco has done better. The number of reported violent crimes in San Francisco fell 34 percent from 1996-2000. In San Diego, violent crime dropped 29 percent. Most of San Diego's detectives work out of district stations and are generalists, investigating thefts, burglaries, robberies and nonfatal shootings and stabbings. "Our system is very expensive because of the amount of staffing we have," said Capt. Ron Newman, who oversees San Diego's homicide a nd central robbery units. "We have come to the conclusion we can't make it less expensive." Its homicide squad has 20 detectives, five detective sergeants, five crime scene investigators and two lieutenants, while San Francisco's homicide detail consist of 14 inspectors and one lieutenant. San Francisco's sex crimes detail has eight inspectors and one lieutenant. San Diego's has 13 detectives, two detective sergeants and one lieutenant. San Diego police assign an investigator to every reported aggravated assault and robbery. In San Francisco, only about 30 percent of the reported robberies and aggravated assaults are assigned an investigator. San Diego assigns a team of six investigators to each murder. If one takes time off, a replacement investigator is brought in. "You have six people brainstorming every case," said L.D. Martin, a detective sergeant on San Diego's homicide squad. San Francisco assigns two investigators to each murder. Even when one investigator goes on vacation for several weeks, no replacement is usually brought in. Since 1995, San Diego has used one of its six-member homicide teams to investigate "cold cases" - those murders that remain unsolved for years. Recent breakthroughs in technology like DNA comparison have spurred this effort.. San Francisco has no systematic cold-case review. "Since the cold case team started, 47 homicides were solved," said Jorge Duran, a detective sergeant assigned to San Diego's homicide squad. SELECTING THE BEST San Diego detectives are selected based on their performance and the recommendations of their superiors. "They had to have made their bones on the street," said Newman, the San Diego detective captain, who retired earlier this year. A new detective must first put in time - at least two years - at one of the department's nine district police stations. From there the top performing detectives can compete for a slot on one of the specialized investigative units at police headquarters, such as commercial robbery or sex crimes. After years of work in a specialized unit, the top investigators are considered for a spot on one of the department's homicide teams. Homicide detectives review the candidates and send a list of three to supervisors for selection. "Homicid e, it goes without saying, you want your best people there - it's the most serious crime," said Mitrovich, a detective sergeant. To become an inspector at the San Francisco department, a police officer must pass a test. Previous job performance and experience are not considered. Those who pass the test are transferred to the various investigative units based on their seniority. Homicide inspectors are chosen on the basis of how long they've had their names on a wait list - not on proven ability. This system was started in the late 1970s to ensure all officers have an equal shot San Francisco police administrators said the wait-list system needs to be changed to ensure the best people get assigned to the vital investigative positions. "There are several ways to change it. One way is just like pulling a tooth - you just do it," said Sanders, the assistant police chief. The wait-list system is a central element in the Police Department's contract with the Police Officers Association, which views it as a way to protect officers from losing plum assignments because of favoritism and City Hall meddling. "Management has over the years wanted to get rid of the system - to put the 'best and the brightest' in - which is total bull," said Lt. Paul Chignell, a former president of the Police Officers Association. "The adequacy of investigations has no relationship to the transfer policy." STRICT PROCEDURES, FOLLOW UP Each investigative unit at the San Diego Police Department has its own investigative procedures manual - most of them are more than 100 pages. The sex crimes manual is 126 pages. San Francisco police conduct many of their investigations over the phone and often require crime victims to come to the Hall of Justice for follow-up interviews - or their case will be dropped. San Diego investigators don't expect crime victims to come to them. The guidelines require detectives to take certain basic steps on each case. "If the victim of a felony crime cannot be contacted in person, the investigator must state the reason on the follow-up report," said Detective Sgt. Mitrovich. "'Well, I didn't feel like it,' or 'It was more convenient to call' - those are not good reasons why." "(Investigators) will physically go out to the scene and contact the victim, "said Detective Sgt. Tim Muren, a San Diego robbery division supervisor. For each violent crime, an investigator must re-interview the victim, regardless of how vague the information they originally told a patrol officer. "Often the victim has had time to think about it and fill in the blanks - maybe something will occur to them that they forgot 5/23/02 Page 3 of 3 in the excitement," said Mitrovich. "Sometimes the follow-up contact is a courtesy, but you just don't know what you'll get," he said. "We find a lot of our victims know the suspect. They might have been reluctant to tell a patrol officer, but a detective should get through that." DIFFERENT RESPONSE TO GUNS The two police departments take starkly different actions when a gun is used to commit a crime. San Diego detectives not only investigate all gun-related crimes, but in most cases follow the patrol officers to the crime scene - regardless of whether the gun is fired. "If the person is willing to show the gun, that means he is willing to use the gun - we want to get those people off the street as soon as possible," said Muren, the robbery unit sergeant. In San Francisco, two-thirds of the gun-related crimes are never assigned to a police inspector for investigation, a Chronicle analysis showed. San Diego police solve more than 50 percent of the store robberies in which a gun was used. San Francisco police solved 10 percent, according to an analysis of SFPD da ta from July through December 2000. MORE RESOURCES, REVIEWS All San Diego detectives are given use of a car, one that they are urged to take home at night so they can quickly get to crime scenes. San Francisco inspectors must vie to use a limited number of cars from a centralized motor pool. At times, some inspectors said, cars have been unavailable. Both departments have cut back on overtime for investigations, although San Diego makes an exception for its homicide detectives. "There is unlimited overtime for homicide," said Newman, the homicide and robbery captain. Differences between the two police departments also can be found in how they supervise investigators. In quarterly performance reviews, each San Diego detective is judged by the standards in the investigative guidelines. "The whole idea - do you have acc ountability, do you have standards?" said Sgt. Stephen D. Cross, a supervisor in San Diego's sex crimes unit. "1 want to know how complete they are, how fast they get out to the scene. I would be concerned about a detective who spends all their time on the phone." The review of a detective's work doesn't stop there. "We do a random check with victims to make sure the detectives have actually done the work," said Muren of the robbery division. The San Francisco Police Department does none of this on a systematic basis. Formal performance reviews of inspectors were halted two years ago because they were viewed as too subjective, said Capt. Roy Sullivan, a supervisor in SFPD's Inspectors Bureau. "We still have an antiquated system," said Sanders, SFPD's assistant chief. PROSPECT OF REFORM Sanders wants to adopt the San Diego model of deploying investigators to district police stations. He hopes this will cut down on inspectors not investigating nearly 70 percent of the robberies and aggravated assaults because they don't see any obvious leads to follow. "The perpetrators want you to put it in a file and not bother with it," Sanders said. Plans are being drafted that would reorganize the Inspectors Bureau, sending investigators out to each of the 10 district stations, he said. SFPD also is talking with the Police Officers Association about making sergeants and inspectors the same rank, thus increasing the number of inspectors from 313 to 550 and broadening the pool from which key positions are filled, said Police Chief Fred Lau. "If we can get police officers on the street at the time the report is being taken, at the time the incident is occurring, I think our success rate will be much higher," said Lau. Station-based inspectors should become familiar with both the victims and criminals in the district and be able to spot leads from a patrol report that would go unnoticed by inspectors working out of the Hall of Justice, Sanders said. "Most crimes happen within the scope of the neighborhood where the perpetrator 1ives," he said. "Inspectors at the stations will say, '1 know this guy, I know this description.'" Discussions have started with the Police Officers Association, Sanders said, and he hopes the department's station-investigator plan can be in place by the end of the year.. "We are trying desperately to change," Sanders said. ABOUT THE SERIES SUNDAY: San Francisco police rank last among the nation's biggest city police forces when it comes to solving violent crimes. MONDAY: Getting away with murder is easier in San Francisco than just about anywhere else. TODAY: VVhy San Diego is so much better than San Francisco at solving violent crimes. E-mai/the writers at d~pa~rrish~._.sfchronicle.com and jvanderbeken~sfchronic/e, com. SAN FRANCISCO COMPARED WITH SAN DIEGO.-- CITY POPULATIONSan Francisco 777,000San Diego 1,223,000.-- SIZE, IN SQUARE MILESSan Francisco 47San Diego 320.- NUMBER OF VIOLENT CRIMES PER 1,000 RESIDENTSSan Francisco 10San Diego 7.1.- OFFICERS PER 1,000 RESIDENTSSan Francisco 2.9San Diego ; 1.7.-- PER CITY RESIDENT POLICE COSTS, 2001-2002San Francisco(x) $317.79San Diego $229.49,(x) Excludes the $26.6 million SFPD spends for SFO security. San Diego police do not provide airport security..-- VIOLENT CRIMES SOLVED, 1996-2000San Francisco San DiegoViolent crime solved 28% 64%Murder solved 50% 64%Rape solved &n bsp; 32% 54%Robbery solved 20% 36%Aggravated assault solved 38% 75%.-- CRIMES WITH GUNS IN S.F.Status of the 418 murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults committed in the city from July 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2000:.Solved 73 (17%)Unsolved& nbsp; 345 (83%).Source: SFPD, SDPD, California Dept. of Justice data and Chronicle analysisChronicle Graphic©2002 San~ Francisco Chronicle Page A - 1 5/23/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 5 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 10:12 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] SF Slayings Unsolved; Homicide Unit Under Fire S.F. SLAYINGS GO UNSOLVED City's homicide unit under fire for critical lapses and lax policies Jaxon Van Derbeken, David Parrish, Chronicle Staff Wdters Monday, May 20, ~00~ ©2002 ~n Francisco Chronicle URL: ~://www.sfgate.comlc§i-bin/article,cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2002/O5/20/MN21426.DT Second of a three-part sar es San Francisco police catch the killer in only half of the city's murders, far below the average of other big city departments. Among the 20 largest U.S. cities, only police in crime-plagued Detroit and rapidly growing Phoenix solved murders at a lower rate than the SFPD between 1996 and 2000, according to a Chronicle analysis of FBI data. A seven-month Chronicle investigation involving the review of thousands of police and court records and more than 100 interviews found policies and procedures within the SFPD that significantly affect homicide detectives' ability to solve murders. SFPD's homicide inspectors are chosen chiefly according to who is next on a signup list, with no regard to ability or past performance. Investigators are ;ometimes forced to make do without two-way radios, cell phones, cars and the lifeblood of all murder investigations - overtime Although some of the unit's 14 inspectors are dedicated and highly skilled, The Chronicle's review discovered murder cases - detailed in today's stories - in which investigators failed to interview key witnesses, left vital leads unpursued and lost critical evidence. Inspectors arrived hours late to a murder scene, were ill prepared for court and even went on vacation at critical junctures in an investigation. The average murder solution rate for the nation's 20 largest cities between 1996 and 2000 was 61 percent, while SFPD solved only 50 percent. SFPD's record on murders is even more troublesome in the city's African American community, which accounts for about 8 percent of San Francisco's population, but 44 percent of its murder victims from 1997 through 2001. During that period, half of all of San Francisco's unsolved murders had a black victim. Police solved less than 40 percent of murders of black victims, while 60 percent of the murders involving white victims were solved. The difficulty SFPD has in solving African American slayings contributed to its overall Iow murder solution. Although many murders remain unsolved, SFPD is taking action, said Lt. Paul Chignell, designated to speak for the department by Chief Fred Lau. The homicide detail is a racially and ethnically diverse unit headed up by a woman, said Chignell, and it's doing a good job throughout the city and within the African American community. "We are proud of our homicide unit," he said. During the past five years, San Francisco police have had far fewer murders to investigate, averaging about 60 annually. That's down from the rate of 107 killings a year for the first part of the 1990s. The drop in the murder rate reflects a nationwide trend. From 1996-2000, murders in San Francisco dropped about 28 percent, matching the decrease for the nation's 20 largest cities. The San Francisco Police Department disputes the significance of the solved- murder statistics. What's important, said Assistant Police Chief Earl Sanders, is suppressing crime. "We are deploying our resources in a way that has the greatest effect on crime," said Sanders, second-highest ranking official in the department. "1 feel very proud that we are accomplishing that goal." When first presented with The Chronicle's findings about the murder solution rate in February, though, Sanders said reforms were needed. "1 know the numbers," Sanders said. "The chief and I are not pleased with the numbers. We are looking for the cause and 5/23/02 Page 2 of 5 instituting remedies." Sanders and a contingent of department leaders addressed the findings again this month. Solving homicides is a departmentwide effort, with inspectors and officers from narcotics, gang units and patrol looking for witnesses and leads, Chignell said. The Police Department also teams up with federal authorities to go after street gangs responsible for many murders, he said. Sanders said that homicide inspectors know who committed many of the unsolved murders but lack sufficient evidence for the district attorney's office to file charges. Lt Judie Pursell, supervisor of the homicide detail, said police need more evidence to build a murder case because defense attorneys have become more sophisticated and juries more skeptical of law enforcement. "They are increasingly hard to charge," she said. Overall, Pursell said, her homicide inspectors are doing a good job, especially considering the difficulty of some of the cases and the limits on resources to solve them. SOLVED WITHOUT JUSTICE Under FBI standards, police only have to make an arrest to claim a crime as solved. It doesn't matter what happens in court. Police also can list a crime as solved for "exceptional" reasons - the suspect is dead or in jail elsewhere or extradition is denied. The shooting death of Rickey Thomas counts as a solved case for the SFPD, yet no one has been convicted, or likely will be. It illustrates some of the problems with murder investigations in San Francisco Thomas' murder took place on the night of July 27, 2000, in Hunters Point. Both family and friends of Thomas, 22, and those of a suspect police subsequently arrested, criticized the investigat ion. "The way they handled it - it wasn't right," said 65- year-old Hazel Easley, Thomas' grandmother. "They could have done more. I don't think they did anything that night. They didn't go out and search, tn/to find anything." The night of the slaying, police were told that Damien Ross, 20, a resident of the neighborhood, was seen arguing with Thomas just moments before the shooting. Friends of Thomas questioned why homicide inspectors Michael Maloney and John "Kelly" Carroll didn't try harder to track down Ross the night of the slaying, to obtain what could have been key physical evidence - gunpowder residue from his hands and clothes. What efforts the investigators made that night are unclear, but neither went to Ross' home. Carroll said he doesn't recall for sure, but thinks patrol officers may have gone there that night. The two investigators said that beyond the night they went to the murder scene, they also went out to the community at least twice, but they did not document the visits on their investigative log, which records the progress of an investigation. They also refused to open their case file for examination by The Chronicle. Carroll left town on vacation after working the case the night of the slaying and the next day. "1 actually was not in town or even the state for a number of weeks following this incident," he later testified in court. One witness testified at a preliminary hearing that he was never contacted by anyone from the homicide detail, even though his name was on initial police reports. Maloney testified he tried to contact that witness. "His (telephone) number was disconnected," said the veteran inspector, adding that he also drove to the man's address once. The only eyewitness to the slaying testified that he was never contacted by either Carroll or Maloney, and two months after the murder, he had to track down the two investigators at the Hall of Justice. Ultimately, the case was dismissed at the preliminary hearing, when a key witness refused to testify and prosecutors had little other evidence. The issues raised in the Thomas slaying prompted The Chronicle to request access to a sampling of murder cases to verify claims of good investigative practices and diligent efforts in those unsolved homicides. SFPD officials first agreed, saying they had nothing to hide. When the newspaper named the 14 cases it wanted to review, though, police officials changed their minds and said allowing such a review could harm ongoing investigations. TIME OFF CONFLICTS WITH CASES The SFPD's policy allowing homicide inspectors to take lengthy vacations or time off while investigating a recent murder may have contributed to the unit's failure to solve slayings, The Chronicle found after a review of department time sheets obtained under the state Public Records Act. Police Department records show that during the past two years, there were 15 murders, including the Rickey Thomas slaying, in which one or both of the homicide inspectors assigned to the killing worked the case the following day, then took the next day off, sometimes staying off work for a week or more. There were an additional nine murders in which one or both of the assigned inspectors investigated the case for the next two days and then took days or weeks off. All those murders remain unsolved. Last July and August, department records show, Inspector Maloney was off 46 days, including weekends, vacation, sick days, compensatory days and floating holidays. His partner Carroll was off 42 days. Often, both were gone at the same time. During that period, the inspectors came to the Hall of Justice when they were on call - or next in line to pick up new homicide cases. If there were no murders during their on-call time, they went off duty again. Four murders were assigned to the pair during that period. On Aug. 26, the two were assigned a murder that remains unsolved. The next day, they were assigned a double murder, which was solved after the inspectors arrested him. Department records show that the following three days, both wet e off work. An earlier case sparked controversy. On Aug. 6, Elliot Abelaye, a 41-year- old transient, was found stabbed to death on the doorstep of a Pacific Heights building. Maloney and Carroll worked the case for the next three days, distributing to patrol officers a composite drawing of two men wanted for questioning in connection with the slaying. On the night of Aug. 10, with Maloney just starting a two-week period of time off, Northern Station officers detained a man they thought strongly resembled one of the two wanted in connection with Abelaye's slaying. When the officers called Maloney at home about 2 a.m., Maloney told them he would not be coming in to question the man, that they should get his name and address, then turn him loose. After releasing the suspect, the patrol officers sent the 5/23/02 Page 3 of 5 composite drawings back to Maloney with the following message: "Inspector Maloney, Take these back. If again, you won't even bother to come out when we pick up a viable suspect, we won't bother to look for them anymore. (signed) Northern night watch." Maloney said the incident was a simple misunderstanding. "1 know a lot more than the officers know about the case," he said, adding that the detained man was not the one he was after. He was looking for a transient, while this man operated a small business. A week later, during a break in his vacation, Maloney said, he interviewed and cleared the businessman Maloney declined to provide any documentation or details of the interview because the murder remains unsolved Pursell, the homicide supervisor, defended her inspectors' right to take vacations, but she recently changed the detail's policy to ensure both inspectors working the same murder will not be off for more than two weeks. Carroll and Maloney also said department records didn't reflect time they and other homicide inspectors frequently must spend working, even though officially off duty. Carroll said that on four of the days he is listed as having taken off during July and August, he actually worked in the office. PICKING THE INSPECTORS A 24-year-old agreement between the Police Officers Association and the department dictates that homicide investigators must be chosen from a waiting list, not on the basis of ability. The inspector on the list the longest - sometimes 15 or more years - gets the next slot. The chief has the power to depart from the list, but seldom does. In recent years, Lau has used that power to give the homicide detail its two current African American inspectors. Lau said he also has tried to place other African American inspectors in the homicide detail, but has found no takers. "They didn't want to go," Lau said. "It's very difficult being a homicide inspector - a lot of people don't want to be called at 2 in the morning." Sanders called the system "bad administration" that limits his ability to pick and choose inspectors. He said discussions have begun about possibly changing the wait-list system. Like many major metro policing agencies, the New York Police Department selects homicide detectives based on past performance in other investigative units, recommendations from supervisors and an interview. NYPD solved nearly 80 percent of its murders from 1996 to 1999, according to FBI statistics. Another problem facing SFPD is the lack of a workable evaluation process for homicide and other units, Sanders said. "We've got to move to an evaluation process," he said. "Are you cutting it or not cutting it?" Sanders said he plans to start spot-checking unsolved homicide cases to see if everything that should be done has been done. While the department has investigative standards, Sanders said, they are too general and loosely enforced. New standards will be developed, he said. "We are going to go to our homicide investigators and say henceforth this is how you will handle a case," Sanders said. OVERTIME, RESOURCES CUT The departmentwide budget crunch - 10 percent for the next fiscal year, for instance - has been acutely felt in the homicide detail, resulting in cuts in cell phones and police radios, overtime allotments, even cars. "Now it's basically pull over, find a pay phone and make a call," said Pursell, the homicide supervisor. San Francisco's homicide inspectors often have to make do without the high- tech tools some other policing agencies have, such as high-quality audio and video recording equipment. In one case, a murder defendant's exact words are in dispute because older equipment could not pick up what he was saying. A judge barred the suspect's statement because it was impossible to be cedain if he said, "1 want to tell you," or invoked his right to remain silent by saying, "1 don't want to talk to you." Homicide Inspector Armand Gordon said this .wasn't the first such incident. "There's lots of cases where statements are inaudible because of the quality of the setup," Gordon said. Two years ago, homicide inspectors wrote to Lau, protesting cuts in overtime. "We now find ourselves in a situation where management is making financial decisions that are having a significant negative operational impact on the investigation of homicides," they said. Lau said the homicide detail is treated like all the other SFPD units and must live within its budget.. Except for overtime, he has not heard complaints from homicide inspectors about needing additional resources. "If they need equipment and they need resources, they k now how to get it," said Lau. "1 think if you look at their caseload compared to the overtime they are allotted, I think they are getting the appropriate amount." Other San Francisco police units have coped with the budget crunches by simply not investigating large numbers of reported crimes Department rules, however, require that each murder be investigated. Police departments in other cities also have budget and staffing problems, but still solve more of their homicides, said Sanders. "People can make all the excuses they want," he said. AFRICAN AMERICAN LAVVYERS A review of every homicide in San Francisco from 1997 through 2001 found that African Americans were the victims in half of the city's 160 unsolved murders - despite comprising about 8 percent of the population. Murders of white victims were solved 50 percent more often than those of black victims, the review found. San Francisco police solved 40 percent of the 133 murders of blacks, and 60 percent of the 75 slayings of whites. About 47 percent of the 45 murders of Latinos were solved, as were 46 percent of the 46 slayings of Asian-Pacific Islanders. Another city with a much better overall record for solving murders also struggled with African American homicides. The San Diego Police Department, which usually solves 60 percent or more of its murders, solved just 43 percent of black stayings from 1997-2000. "The majority of the African American cases are gang related - that makes it tougher," said Lt. Jim Duncan, a San Diego homicide supervisor. Homicides with black victims in San Diego account for less than a third of that city's murders, compared with 44 percent of San Francisco's slayings - and thus have a smaller effect on the city's overall murder solution rate. In San Francisco, the number of homicides with black victims, coupled with the disparity between white and black homicide solutions, has led African Americans ins[de and outside the SFPD to question the department's commitment to solving the bloodshed in the black community. "Nothing is being done about the murders," said Carl Bonnet, a narcotics inspector and 17-year veteran African American officer. "It's just the attitude, '"'Let them kill themselves until they are extinct, or until it bleeds over into another community.'" Surviving family members of black 5/23/02 Page 4 of 5 murder victims have grown frustrated with police efforts. "If they never make an arrest or solve a homicide, they will still get a paycheck," said Cathy Tyson, whose son's unsolved murder occurred more than a year ago. FEAR AND MISTRUST Pursell, the homicide detail lieutenant, said many of the murders of African Americans remain unsolved because they were the result of gang warfare, particularly in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhoods. "There's a genuine fear. You come forward and testify and you could find yourself the next victim. We have had a few witnesses killed," Pursell said. "We generally .don't have that in white homicides." Authorities point to the case of Dustin Thomas, 20, who was shot to death in a housing project parking lot six days after he testified in a December 2000 court case involving the gang- related murder of a 15-year-old boy. VVhile having difficulty solving the gang-related murders, the department has been successful at staunching the bloodshed, said Chignell, La u's spokesman. The gang warfare in Bayview-Hunters Point has been essentially stopped by a joint federaI-SFPD effort that jailed 18 alleged gang members on drug and weapons charges that could put them in prison for life, according to Chignell. Police are warning others from the warring factions that the same thing can happen to them. "We may not have cleared all the homicide cases that resulted from the activities of these individuals, but .... by going after them on a systematic basis," the department has been able to see "a better calm in the Bayview- Hunters Point community," Chignell said.. David Robinson, an African American who formedy headed the police homicide detail, said he did what he could to ovemome the fear and mistrust of the community. "B lack homicides have been resistant to solving because of the black community's resistance to cooperating with police," said Robinson, now commander of the city's Department of Parking and Traffic. Sanders, the assistant chief, said he has heard complaints from the community that some homicide inspectors seldom venture into their neighborhoods, except when they initially go to the scene of the crime when the body is first discovered. "People are saying, '"'1 haven't seen an inspector since it happened,'" said Sanders. "A good investigator isn't one who sits and talks on the phone. A good investigator gets out and talks to people." Pursell, homicide detail supervisor, said her inspectors are not just working their cases by phone. "They are knocking on doors," she said. "1 don't know where that perception came from." POLICE EFFORTS' MIXED SUCCESS The department has struggled fitfully in recent years to deal with its problems in solving violent crimes in the black community. In 1995, at the suggestion of Sanders, then a homicide investigator, and his partner, Napoleon Hendrix, both African Americans, the department formed the elite CRUSH unit - Crime Response Unit to Stop Homicide - to solve murders in the Bayview-Hunters Point area. The unit was quietly disbanded two years later after complaints of "cowboy" police tactics. Sanders at the time credited CRUSH with clearing up dozens of unsolved murders, making more than 700 felony arrests and seizing nearly 200 weapons. Last year, the department used a federal grant to bring Hendrix out of retirement. The idea was for Hendrix to work with a six- to eig hr-member African American Gang Task Fome to help the homicide unit find witnesses and solve murders. But there was friction between Hendrix and some homicide detectives. He ultimately wrote a memo stating that witnesses in one case would talk only with him because of the "non-caring attitudes" exhibited by the assigned inspectors. When pressed, Hendrix did not name those witnesses, said Capt. Roy Sullivan, a supervisor who oversees the homicide detail. The rehiring of Hendrix never produced the expected results and, when the grant expired earlier this year, the detective went back into retirement. The department's commitment to solving African American murders didn't end with the departure of Hendrix, said Lau. While the African American Gang Task Force th at Hendrix worked with has been disbanded, Lau said, that unit's work is being continued by police officers assigned to district stations and those in special investigations. "The community needs to understand we have been effective in some cases. We need to be more effective in other cases," Lau said. MOTHERS CRITICIZE INSPECTORS As their cases languish, mothers and families of victims in Bayview-Hunters Point have banded together to push for action. They have repeatedly met with Pursell, who they say is sympathetic. They add, though, that they have seen little progress on the murder cases. "(Pursell) went beyond a police person's job, she let me cry on her shoulder," said Jacalyn Pitcher, a Municipal Railway supervisor whose 17-year- old son Starvel Junious III was shot and killed two years ago this month, along with another youth in what police believe was a gang-related street shooting. Junious was not a gang member, police said, but moments before the shooting, he got into a car with a childhood friend who did have links to a gang. Finding witnesses can be difficult, Pitcher agre ed, but she was sharply critical of the homicide inspector assigned to find them in her son's case - Curtis Cashen. When her son was shot, around noon near a Bayview neighborhood sandwich shop, the streets were packed with people, Pitcher said, but Cashen never aggressively sought out witnesses. "If people don't ask questions, no one is going to come forward," she said. "They can't blame it all on Hunters Point." Cashen said Pitcher is just plain wrong about his efforts to solve her son's murder. "We did all we can on this case. We really pressed for witnesses," said Cashen, who has left the homicide detail and is awaiting rstirement after a 30- year career. "Here is a case where two people are literally shot at high noon - lots of witnesses, but no one saw anything. They were all uncooperative." Cashen said in his experience this was "typical" in black neighborhoods. "No one wants to get involved with the police," he said. "The consequence is their children are killing their children." QUESTION OF REWARDS Another mother pressing for better investigations in the Bayview is Cathy Tyson, whose son Brian Williams, 23, and a second man were gunned down by several assailants on New Year's Eve 2000 while crossing a street in the area. Both 5/23/02 Page 5 of 5 the police and Tyson have said they know at least two of the people responsible for the double slaying. "Hours after my son was killed, those two were pulled over in a stolen vehicle," Tyson said. "They were never detained. Why were they not detained? At that point, they could have gotten gunshot residue off their hands." Police said they could not discuss details of an open murder investigation. Tyson, Pitcher and other mothers met with police and prosecutors last May, urging the city to increase the $10,000 reward being offered in each of their cases. Cashen balked at the suggestion, according to those at the meeting. "He said, "1 think $10,000 is a lot of money,' "Tyson recalled. "1 said for a homicide, $10,000 was nothing." Pitcher was taken aback by Cashen's comments, and so was Pursell. "It was "They're blacks, so what?' That kind of attitude. That was basically what it was," Pitcher said. Pursell heatedly rebuked Cashen during the meeting, and within a few days pulled him off the Junious case. Pursell would not say why. The reward was eventually raised to $50,000 per victim. Cashen said the race of the victim had nothing to do with his objection to raising the reward. If no one was coming forward for the original amount, why would adding to it help, he asked.. As for being pulled off of the murder investigation, Cashen said he never asked Pursell why. "1 should have been embarrassed about it," Cashen said. "1 should have been angry, but it was such a hard case, I was glad to be off it." ABOUT THE SERIES SUNDAY:: San Francisco police rank last among the nation's biggest city police forces when it comes to solving violent crimes. TODAY: Getting away with murder is easier in San Francisco than just about anywhere else. TUESDAY: Why San Diego is so much better than San Francisco at solving violent crimes. CHART (1): E-mail the writers at jvanderbeken~,sfchronicle.com and dparrish~sfchronicle, com. MURDERS SOLVED BY U.S. CITYPercent of murders solved in America's 20 largest cities from 1996 to 2000:.City Murders solvedMilwaukee 84%New York(x) Jose &nbs p; 70%Austin, Texas(x) 65%Dallas 65%Jacksonville, Fla. 54%Los Angeles 52%Chicago 49%Detroit 48%Average analysis of FBI and police data 79%Indianapolis 78%Philadelphia 71%San 70%Houston 67%San Antonio 67%Memphis 64%San Diego 64%Columbus, Ohio 54%Boston 52%Baltimore 51%San Francisco 50%Phoenix 61%Chronicle Graphic(x) - Based on 4 years of data Source: Chronicle CHART (2):MURDER IN SAN FRANCISCO BY RACE OR ETHNIClTYBreakdown of 300 murder victims from 1997 to 2001.Solved: 140 (47%) Unsolved: 160 (53%).Solved UnsolvedAfrican American 63 (40%) 80 (60%) White 45 (60%) 30 (40%)Asian/Pacific Islander 21 (46%) 25 (54%)Latino 21 (47%) 24 (53%) American Indian: One unsolved murder.-- Race of murder victims in the cityAfrican American: 133 (44%) White: ; 75 (25%)Asian/Pacific Islander: 46 (15%)Latino: 45 (15%)American Indian: 1 (0.3%).Chronicle GraphicNote: Pementages do not add up to 100% due to roundingSource: SFPD and Chronicle analysis ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle Page A- 1 5/23/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 10:10 AM To: Update@NACOLEorg Subject: [NACOLE Update] Index of SF Articles; How Analysis & Data Collection Was Done PART ONE: Sun 5-19-02 SFPD dead !~ i~ solving ~!o!~nt ~rime. How ana!ysis of data made case for story. Chart: All the numbers for major US cities. Victims: ~.E, ~ops treated hi~ !i~e crirning!. Victims: ~ ~Usp~t in r~P~ disapp~r~ ~ police ~it ~ d~y to question him. Victims: Shots were fired, but no iospectors came. PART TWO: Monday 5-20-02 City!s homicide unit under fire fo~ critical lapses and !ax po!lc[es How analysis of data made case for story Light sentences after witness overlooked Good inspector w~its 12 years Oh list PART THREE: Tues: $-21-02 "A Wake-up call" S.F. police eye reforms to follow San Diego's lead How analysis of data made case for story Jaxon Van Derbeken, [:)avid Pa[fish Tuesday, May 21, 2002 ©2002 San Francisco ~hronicle URL: ht~p;I/www.sfgate.comlcg!-bin/a~ic!e~cgi?f=/chronic!e/a/2002/O5121/MN236927.DTL Today's story is based on a computer analysis of data obtained from a variety of soumes and hundreds of interviews. The Chronicle began its investigation after reviewing FBI data showing the SFPD was solving or "clearing" only about half of the city's murders while other major cities were solving 60 percent or more. Clearance rates are the percentage of crime solved. A policing agency can clear or solve a crime by arresting a suspect. It doesn't matter what later happens in court. Police also can list a murder as solved for "exceptional" reasons -- for example, the suspect is dead or in jail elsewhere or extradition is denied. The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program uses the terms "murder" and "criminal homicide" interchangeably and defines them as "the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another." The FBI does not include justifiable homicides among its murder statistics. In this series The Chronicle uses the more common term "murder" over "criminal homicide." Data was obtained from the FBI and the California Department of Justice. Cities nationwide were called to fill in data gaps. The FBI cautions that using clearance data alone to compare one policing agency with another can be misleading if other factors are not taken into consideration. To address those concerns, The Chronicle also obtained data on each city, including sworn officers per capita and violent crimes per capita. The paper decided the fairest comparison would be of similar-size cities -- the 20 largest. San Francisco is the nation's 14th largest city. Many of these cities experienced peaks and valleys over the past decade in solving murders, so The Chronicle used a five-year average of the most recent available data for each city -- 1996 to 2000. There were some data problems. Austin, Texas, police could not provide data for 1996, and New York could not provide data for 2000. For those cities, a four-year average was used. In San Francisco, the number of murders and the number of cleared murders reported to the FBI were at odds with other department records. SFPD seemed to have mixed in a handful of deaths each year that were not murders -- such as drug overdoses, s uicides and accidents. For the most part, these were cases that San Francisco homicide inspectors had investigated as possible murders, then learned the true cause of death. Other policing agencies said they didn't report such erroneous data. To get an accurate count of actual murders, The Chronicle conducted a case- by-case review of every homicide in the city from 1996 to 2001. A case-by-case review of other departments' reporting 5/23/02 Page 2 of 2 on murders was not possible because of the lack of available data. Also included among the solved cases in San Francisco were 10 murders that took place before 1996 but were solved between 1996 and 2000. Under FBI rules a murder's clearance is counted in the year it's solved, not when the crime took place. When analyzing just San Francisco murders, The Chronicle used the most recent five- year period of data available for the city, 1997 to 2001. Most other cities didn't have data for 2001. In this San Francisco-only analysis, the newspaper looked at such factors as the race/ethnicity and gender of the victim, along with whether a gun was used. The Chronicle's methodology was discussed with criminal justice professors Charles Wellford and John Eck. Both said they could find no fault with the methodology used in the newspaper's analysis. "Limiting (the clearance analysis) to those cities makes sense," said Wellford, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Maryland and co-author of a study on what factors help police solve murders. The Chronicle's methodology seemed "comprehensive," said Eck, co-author of the murder study and an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati who has consulted with police departments. Marc Riedel, a criminology professor at the University of Southern Illinois, said that although the FBI statistics represent the best available crime clearance data, there are unknown factors. "The fundamental problem with crime statistics in general and clearance in particular is that there is no quality control," Riedel said. The Chronicle spot-checked the procedures policing agencies used to compile the data and, except for the San Francisco homicide figures, found no deviations from FBI standards. ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 12 5/23/02 Marian Kart Page 1 of 15 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 10:08 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] San Fran PD Exposed: Shoddy Investigations; Crimes Unsolved; Lax Management The San Francisco Chronical is running a lengthy investigative / analytic series on SFPD's sloppy investigation process and lax management. They've compared with the 20 largest US cities in general, and San Diego in particular. The series shows use of comparative data analysis in investigating/analyzing police productivity. Here's the first article. More to follow. Please read this series; it's taking investigative reporting on PD operations to new places. SFPD dead last in solving violent crime ~ David Parrish, Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writers S~nday, May 19, 2002 ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chrenicle/a/2002/05/19/MN20982.DTL Violent criminals who prey on San Francisco's residents and visitors I have a better chance of getting away with their crimes than predators in any other large American city. The San Francisco Police Department solved, on average, just 28 percent of the city's murders, rapes, robberies, shootings, stabbings and other serious assaults between 1996 and 2000, a Chronicle computer analysis shows. That was the lowest violent crime "clearance rate," or solution rate, among the nat on s 20 argest c t es. The large-city average was 42 percent. San Jose, the only other Bay Area city in the top 20, cleared 49 percent. A seven-month Chronicle investigation revealed a department with serious problems in its once vaunted Bureau of Inspectors, which doesn't even investigate nearly 70 percent of the robberies and serious assaults reported in San Francisco. Despite having more resources and less crime than many other big cities, the department solved just half of the murders and less than a third of the rapes reported in the city during the five years studied. Assistant Police Chief Earl Sanders defended the 2,265-officer department's performance, saying the SFPD has chosen to emphasize crime suppression over crime solution - with a strong presence of uniformed officers on the street. The Chronicle found a police department that doesn't pick inspectors 5/23/02 Page 2 of 15 on the basis of ability and performance, where few are held accountable for inferior work or effort, where solving crimes is not the highest goal, and where inspectors often investigate crimes from their desks rather than going out to interview victims and find evidence and witnesses. Thousands of "whodunit" violent crimes go uninvestigated by the department's inspectors. A person who is shot, treated at a hospital and then released is not guaranteed an investigation, said SFPD Lt. Henry Hunter, the supervisor who oversees investigations of serious assaults. "Unless we have a named suspect, we're not going to assign the case," said Hunter. "The solvability is too Iow." Like most other aggravated assault victims, that person must come down to the Hall _o,f Justice for a follow-up interview by an inspector, he said. "If a person is just shot and they don't come in, that won t be assigned necessarily," Hunter said. "Even if a person comes in, it doesn't mean it's going to be ass gned. Every year, about 4,000 reports of robbery and 3,000 reports of aggravated assault pour into the Hall of Justice. After being reviewed, most are stamped "inactive" and packed away in boxes. In those cases, SFPD inspectors don't call the victims. They don't actively seek evidence or witnesses. Instead, they send victims a form letter. STOPPING CRIME, NOT SOLVING IT Police Chief Fred Lau, when presented with The Chrenicle's findings, said he was unaware his inspectors routinely failed to investigate so many crimes. "That's not the proper attitude, that's not the proper procedure," Lau said. "If the victim or a witness takes the time to report the crime, and we encourage people to report crimes, then the Police Department should do everything it can to assist that person." Lau noted that the city's crime rate has dropped in each of the 6 1/2 years he has been chief and that a city survey shows San Francisco residents "feel safer" and satisfied with their police. However, San Francisco's 34 percent decrease in violent crime from 1996- 2000 was matched, on average, by America's 20 largest cities - a decline criminal justice experts generally attribute to a strong economy, tougher sentencing laws and a decrease in the number of young men most likely to commit crimes. Sanders, who in February called SFPD's record for solving violent crime "damn Iembarrassing," said the Inspectors Bureau should be reorganized. "We realize it's not functioning as it should," Sanders said then. "We realize changes need to be made. This is front burner, top fire." In a follow-up interview this month, Sanders said SFPD puts its resources into I crime suppression, rather than trying to solve or even investigate every reported violent crime. With Sanders during this interview, and speaking for the department, was Lt. Paul I Chignell, former president of the police union and now the narcotics detail supervisor. "The most important thing from 5/23/02 Page 3 of 15 our perspective is crime suppression," said Chignell. "What we have done in the department over the last two years.. · is engage in a broad series of innovative approaches to attacking violent crime. It is not just about clearing cases and assigning cases to an investigator." Police officials said they are using patrol officers, special task forces and other resources - including federal law enforcement agencies - to attack the roots of violent crime. Gang members have gotten special attention. Some have been arrested on drug and weapons charges that carry stiff prison terms. Others are being hauled into meetings and warned en masse that a similar life behind bars awaits them unless they clean up their act. If they need assistance turning their lives around, the gang members are told, city services will be made ava ab e, Ch gnell said. DISABLED VICTIM WENT UNAIDED IVictims of violent crimes in San Francisco soon learn that the department's inspectors will investigate only the most egregious or easiest to solve crimes. Clark Dunning, 63, disabled and living in a seniors' board and care home, learned that firsthand. He was forced to move after being repeatedly threatened and robbed by a neighborhood crack add ct. The amounts taken during the November and December 2000 robberies were small - a few dollars each time - but the threats of physical harm were constant. "The first thing he did was hit me in the face Then he said, "Give me your money - I'm a killer,'" Dunning said. "He would rob weak people." After three muggings by the same man, Dunn ng called the police. Patrol officers dutifully wrote down what he to d them. The Chronicle found that the report was sent to the robbery detail where it was filed with other inactive cases. No investigator was ever assigned to look into what was happening to Dunning. "They did Inothing for me," Dunning said, and the robberies continued. "That's why I moved," Dunning said. "1 was afraid." LOW PRIORITY, LESS FUNDING The Chronicle reviewed thousands of pages of police and court documents, analyzed every reported violent crime during the July-December 2000 period and interviewed hundreds of people, including prosecutors, attorneys, crime v ct ms, po ce officers and cr m na just ce experts. Among the chief reasons the newspaper found for SFPD's solution record on Iviolent crimes: -- The department has not made solving violent crime a priority. Records show that SFPD paid more overtime to inspectors for protecting Mayor IWillie Brown in the two years ending last September - 13,085 hours - than it paid for overtime to investigate all nonfatal 5/23/02 aggravated assaults, rapes and robberies combined - 11,714 hours. Page 4 of 15 -- Staff cuts or reorganizations during the past decade have reduced the number of linspectors assigned to investigate violent crimes - in some cases, by half. - Most investigations are done by phone, with inspectors infrequently leaving the Ioffice. -- Budget constraints have forced violent crime inspectors to go without such basic linvestigative tools as portable radios, cell phones and even cars. -- Under a formal agreement with the Police Officers Association, key investigative Ipositions are filled on the basis of time that applicants spend on a signup list, not demonstrated ability. -- No formal performance standards exist in the Inspectors Bureau. Other than providing a monthly account of their activities, inspectors are not evaluated on performance. Botched investigations are tolerated, and outstanding work goes unrewarded. Not once in the past decade have San Francisco police solved, or cleared, more than 30 percent of the city's violent crimes in one year - a worse record than any of the other 19 largest cities. Under FBI standards regarding clearance rates, police just have to make an arrest to claim a crime as solved or cleared. It Udoesn't matter what happens in court. Police also can list a crime as solved for "exceptional" reasons - for example, the suspect s dead or in ja e sewhere, extrad t on s den ed or the v ct m []won't cooperate age nst a named suspect. During the five-year period studied, San Francisco police solved 20 percent of the city's robberies, nearly 38 percent of its serious assaults, 32 percent of the reported rapes and about 50 percent of the murders. The SFPD suffers by comparison with just about any size policing agency - not just those from the 20 largest cities. Among the top 50 cities, SFPD's Iow clearance rate was rivaled only by police in Washington, D.C.. - a city with 75 percent more violent crime per capita than San Francisco. D.C. police solved about I percent fewer v oent crimes from 1996 to 2000. 5/23/02 Page 5 of 15 SFPD has the lowest clearance rate for violent crime among California cities with populations of 200,000 or greater. In 2000, while SFPD solved 26 percent of its violent crimes, police in Oakland solved 46 percent and those in San Jose solved 61 percent. PROSECUTORS, POLICE AT ODDS District Attorney Terence Hallinan said the findings should result in a city task force to study the department's performance. "It sends a message that people are running a risk coming to San Francisco, "said Hallinan, whose office is criticized by police for a reluctance to prosecute cases Few have had a longer look at the SFPD than Jeff Brown, for 22 years San Francisco's elected public defender and a police critic. "My sense of the San Francisco Police Department as a .w,~ole is there really is a lack of professionalism," said Brown, now a member of the state Public Utilities Commission. It s a pretty sloppy department." Brown says Lau, whom Mayor Willie Brown appointed chief in 1996 after 25 years on the force, hash t been effect ve. ve never seen eadersh p within the department," he said. "We're doing the best we can with the resources we have," said Lau, a candidate for a federal airport security job. Lau also noted the policies of San Francisco's prosecutors and judges affect the SFPD's clearance rate. For years, Lau said, he has pushed for night courts so those arrested by patrol officers can be quickly charged. If patrol officers could get a suspect charged in night court, while they are still on duty, that would leave inspectors more time to investigate. Often they now are tied up with arrest cases from the night before. "We have asked for on-call D.A.'s, we have been asking for on-call judg es, we have been asking for night court, we have been asking for weekend court," Lau said. "We need the whole criminal justice system to work together." Sgt. Reno Rapagnani, department legal officer, complained that the district attorney will not prosecute when it is just the victim's word against the suspect's. POOR RECORD WITH RAPE Many rape cases come down to just that. Of reported rape cases, 68 percent are unsolved. The Chronicle found that in about a quarter of those, inspectors identified a suspect but couldn't convince the district attorney there was enough ev dence to prosecute. Police filed those cases as "inactive." That's what happened in the case of Evelyn Salon. In December 2000, Salon, 37, reported to police that a recent former boyfriend knocked her to the floor, dragged herto the bedroom and raped her. "He twisted my arms, he twisted my legs," said Salon, who gave The lChronicle permission to use her name. "1 found bruises on my legs and knees because I was fighting him." The man, questioned five days later, said the sex was consensual. There was no arrest. The case was discussed with the district attorney's office, which didn't think a conviction was possible, said Lt. Jere Williams, supervisor of the sexual assault detail. Police told Salon there wasn't enough corroborating evidence. Wi ams sa d such one-on-one cases rare y get prosecuted. 5/23/02 Page 6 of 15 As for the bruises, there was no evidence tying them to the alleged attack, he said. "This is one of those tough cases to prove," Williams said. Capt. Roy Sullivan, a supervisor in the Bureau of Inspectors, said SFPD's clearance rate would look better if police arrested suspects they knew the district attorney wou d not prosecute. FEWCOPS, LOT'S OF ROBBERS Criminal justice experts were surprised to hear that SFPD investigates only about 30 percent of its robberies. "This sounds like something is wrong," said John Eck, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. Lau sa d he wou d address prob ems The Chronicle found. "If it's policies and procedures we have to fix, we'll fix them. If it's staffing and resources, which I believe is probably a factor, we'll fix that," Lau said. Despite the fact that the crime-fighting force in San Francisco grew by nearly 300 officers in the 1990s, those responsible for investigating violent crime say they must get by with fewer inspectors. "In 1995, there were 19 robbery inspectors here," said Lt. Bruce Marovich, supervisor of the 10-inspector robbery detail. "The chief cut them in half. He thinks patrol needs the help." With so few inspectors available, tough decisions have to be made every morning on which of the newly reported robberies will be nvest gated, sa d Marovich. Priority is given to robberies in which patrol officers have already made an arrest, requiring inspectors to quickly assemble the evidence for a court hearing, he said. Unsolved robberies in which someone was seriously hurt or those with solid leads to follow are next in line to be assigned for investigation, he said. Store robberies with a gun, bank holdups and home invasion robberies with elderly victims are also generally ass gned an investigator. Most street robberies are not assigned. "Even if the victim said he can ID him, we [;don't assign it," Marovich said. There s noth ng to go on. NO INVESTIGATION OF ROBBERY Dawn Hillis and Ray Frederickson learned that after two men with a gun robbed them of purse and wallet as they walked to their North Beach home from a late-night party in July 2000. The patrol officers who responded were polite, took the r statements and drove them home. The victims heard nothing more from police - despite the fact that Frederickson told officers he could identify the gunman if he saw him. A robbery inspector didn't re-interview the couple to see if they cou d reca more deta s. No po ce art st worked w th them to create a composite drawing. Instead, police sent them a 5/23/02 Page 7 of 15 form letter sent to all robbery victims, saying whom to contact if they have additional information. "There wasn't any kind of follow-up or anything," said Hillis. Marovich says his 10 robbery inspectors don't have time to investigate such crimes until a series of three robberies seem connected. The department only has one overworked artist, he said. Marovich said he keeps his inspectors fresh by not assigning them cases he thinks are unlikely to be solved. "1 don't want to mismanage the inspectors, because you are going to burn them out," he said. Sanders said he was sure the robbery would have been investigated, if the victims had called the robbery detail. INSPECTORS STUCK IN OFFICE Sullivan, the Inspectors Bureau supervisor, said not all of SFPD's 313 inspectors are investigating crimes. Only about 240 work as nspectors n the bureau, he sa d, w th the remainder working in other assignments. Hunter, who oversees assault investigations, said a shortage of inspectors means he has to be highly selective on which cases he assigns an investigator. The more serious the crime, Hunter said, the more likely it will be assigned, but it's all relative. "If you are driving down the freeway and a bullet comes through your w ndsh e d from the projects, that s not go ng to be ass gned," Hunter said. With the exception of homicide inspectors, who go to each crime scene, many SFPD inspectors do their investigating without going into the field. "Inspectors used to be investigators - exciting work. Now they are tied to their desks," said Rapagnani, an inspector and attorney assigned to the department's ega dvson. "If we did a film about our inspectors, they would be on the phones." Williams, supervisor of the sex crimes detail, says "we can't be too proactive," because there are only eight inspectors in his un t and they nvestigate all reported sex crimes. Robbery lieutenant Marovich said on "day-to-day things" his inspectors [~don't go lout, often requiring crime victims to come to the Hall of Justice for a follow-up interview. The requirement that violent crime victims come to the Hall of Justice to talk with an inspector before an investigation will be launched may have cost Claire Tempongko her life. Tempongko, 28, called police to her house twice in September 2000 to report her ex-boyfriend had threatened and attacked her - ionce leaving her "crying uncontrollably with blood spilling from her mouth," a patrol officer reported. After the threats and attack, Tempongko never went to the Hall of Justice for a Ifollow-up interview with a domestic violence inspector, and consequently her case wasn't investigated. Her ex- 5/23/02 Page 8 of 15 boyfriend - previously convicted on a domestic violence charge - was never questioned about those incidents. Instead of investigating, police said they sent the case to the Probation Department because the suspect was on probation. On Oct. 22, 2000, Tempongko was stabbed to death in her basement apartment. Her ex-boyfriend, Tari N. Ramirez, who was seen by neighbors running away with a bloody knife, remains at large. < FONT COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #i'[[[i'i" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="AriaI" LANG="0"> Police officials promised to change their investigation policy after Tempongko's hlaying, but those who help domestic violence victims said it hasn't happened. "It has been the policy for a long time nless the woman comes fonNard, and really pushes for it, they won't investigate," said Beverly Upton, coordinator of e Domestic Violence Consortium. "Most women think "We made the report,'" and that's enough, said Beckie lasaki, executive director of the Asian Women's Shelter. Domestic Violence Inspector Leroy Lindo said his unit uld not comment on the Tempongko case because of a pending lawsuit. "It's easy to sit in an ivory tower and ge what we do," said Lindo of those who have criticized the domestic violence unit. He said that if victims [~don't II, inspectors call them. When victims can't be reached, he said, usually those cases are not investigated. "We ed their cooperation," Lindo said. LACK Of CARS, CELL PHONES Even when inspectors have time to investigate a case, and can break free of their desks, sometimes there isn't a car ~ava~lable. Have there been days when my people couldn t go out because they d~dn t have a car. Yes, said ~omicide Lt. Judie Pursell. Unlike the San Diego Police Department, for example, where each detective has a ar, SFPD inspectors check theirs out of a motor pool. Each detail gets a specific number of cars. The homicide etail, for example, has six. Two of the cars are given to the two on-call inspectors, those on deck to respond to the ext murder. That leaves four cars for the other 12. Cars are not the only thing in short supply. 3an Francisco sorely lacks up- to-date tools for effectively investigating crimes. rt'S a can on a string," said Lt. Tom Buckley, who worked night investigations before becoming the department's operty control supervisor. "I'm amazed at the quality of work they do, given the lack of resources." In recent onths, the Inspectors Bureau has been asked to turn over nearly 50 of its handheld police radios. A budget squeeze has stripped many inspectors of their department-issued cell fhones. "Each team used to have a cell phone, but we had to give them up," said Pursell. Many inspectors view a andheld radio as a piece of safety equipment they can use to summon help, but the radios were taken away ecause they were needed by patrol officers, inspectors said. "The department believes in patrol," said Williams, the ex crimes lieutenant. 5/23/02 Page 9 of 15 "Investigations is a clear second to patrol." Deputy Chief Mindy Pengel, in charge of the Bureau of Inspectors, said it is a question of need. A department usage study showed patrol officers used the radios more often, she said, and an equipment shortage and budget constraints forced the decision. "Every unit within the bureau has a certain number of radios," Pengel said. "If they should need a radio, we will find them a radio." It's the same with cars - one will be found if an inspe,c, tor needs it, she said. Chief Lau said the poor economy requires difficult decisions in his department, as elsewhere. 'They are asking us to reduce our budget by 10 percent this year," Lau said. TIME SERVED OR TALENT The Police Department staffs several key investigative details using a waiting list system negotiated 24 years ago w th the Police Officers Association after officers complained about favoritism in picks for prestigious details. Most key investigative positions now go to the next person on the list without regard for ability, although the department has carved out exceptions for the special investigations/gang detail and the vice and narcotics unit. Investigators for those units are picked by supervisors. Also, the chief has the power to override the list and make special appointments, as Lau has done on rare occasions. Inspectors can wait as long as 15 years to get nto the horn cde detail. The wait-list system also governs who goes to robbery, general work and sex crimes. Among policing agencies serving the 20 largest cities, only one other - the Columbus, Ohio, police department - also uses a non-merit-based system for assigning detectives to investigative units. Cad Bonner, a San Francisco narcotics inspector, said the system stymies aggressive and productive officers, who know that only time, lnot job performance, w I d ctate who gets coveted assignments. "The present system now doesn't work," Bonner said. Experts agreed. "1 would think you would want to select people on their investigative skills," said Charles Wellford, a University of Maryland criminologist who reviewed nearly 800 murders for a recent study on which police procedures lead to solved cases. "Some don't think it's any different than investigating fraud or pickpockets, but thats not the norm," Wellford said. Jan Chaiken, former head of the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics and co-author of a study on how to p~ck pohce ~nvest~gators, sa~d San Francisco s system runs counte to research findings. It "sounds like a system (that's been) in place a number of years and hasn't been reassessed. If you look at how individual departments organized themselves 30 years ago, you would see similar systems," Chaiken said. Investigators are best picked by peer review and supervisory evaluations from among candidates with clean discipl nary records and rapport w th communities hardest hit by crime, he said. SFPD studied a plan requiring homicide inspectors to have previously worked in 5/23/02 Page 10 of 15 lassignments such as sex crimes and assaults. It was scuttled as "too cumbersome," said Capt. Kevin Dillon, a former supervisor in the Inspectors Bureau. 'A GOOD BACKGROUND' Before Curtis Cashen joined the homicide detail, most of his time as an inspector was in the photo lab - 10 years. He also collected evidence as a crime scene investigator and worked in fraud. Cashen said his main experience on violent crime cases came during three years in the general work detail. CasheWs name finally reached the top of the Iwait st, and in November 1996, he became a homicide inspector. "1 think I had a good background," said Cashen, now on leave awaiting retirement. "The only area that I lacked in was dealing with the witnesses in homicide. The interviewing of witnesses - that I had to get up to speed on." Cashen is remembered for an investigative technique he once employed.. VVhen a San IFrancisco sheriffs deputy was found dead of an apparent suicide, Cashen got his supervisor to write the widow, IYvette Antaran, a letter that expressed "heartfelt condolences," then Cashen delivered it with a written list of 17 ~questions. Among them: "Did you kill Benjamin A. Antaran Jr.?" "Did you take part in t he killing of Benjamin A. IAntaran Jr.?" "Did you plan to kill Benjamin A. Antaran Jr.?" Sullivan, supervisor in the Bureau of Inspectors, called Cashen's letter a "different type of investigati~,e technique." The widow was less charitable. "1 would need a thesaurus to accurately describe how feel about t, she said. "People do things that are wrong - that was wrong" What's wrong with trying to get at the truth? Cashen asked. Cashen said he got Ithe idea for the questionnaire at a training class he attended with other SFPD inspectors. Other homicide inspectors [2haven't used the technique, he said. "Most of them pooh-pooh it," Cashen said. CHANGES BEING CONSIDERED Before the seniority system was instituted in the late 1970s, only those with "juice" with the chief or City Hall got the plum assignments, said Chignell, who helped draft the rule while a leader in the Police Officers Association, the union. "It was who you knew. Seniority or merit had nothing to do with it." While there were abuses in the old system, the benefits of picking the best person for the job far outweighed the problems, police officials said. "The old way - 90 percent came out of ability and 10 percent out ofjuice, said Marov ch, the robbery deta supervsor, t was better than now. Lau said he is frustrated with the rule governing assignments and has been trying to renegotiate it with the police union for three or four years. Lau wants to combine the ranks of sergeant and inspector to create a large pool of candidates for key positions. The wait-list system, coupled with the SFPD's lack of job performance evaluations, makes it difficult for supervisors. "Our appraisals and evaluations EJdon't rate 5/23/02 Page 11 of 15 performance," said Williams, from the sex crimes detail. "If you're not doing the job, it's "So what, what are you going to do to me?' The current system has no bite." In lieu of written performance evaluations, enSpectors fill out a monthly account of productivity and success that is reviewed by their supervisor. Written valuations were abandoned at least two years ago as "too subjective," said Sullivan, from the Inspectors Bureau. Lau agreed that the SFPD lacks a workable performance review process for Inspectors and said one is being developed. "From all indications, the system needs to be revised," he said, adding hat as long as he remains chief, he will push for changes in the department. 'Tve been here six years," Lau said. There are some things we haven't been able to do yet." qEGLECTED DUTY I~iuring 1996-2000, San Francisco police: solved half the city's murders solved fewer than a third of the city's rapes d not investigate nearly 70 percent of the city's robberies and assaults ~,BOUT THE THREE-DAY SERIES viSunday: San Francisco rank last the nation's forces when it to police among biggest ci[y police comes solving olent crimes. -- Monday: Getting away with murder is easier in San Francisco than just about ~nywhere else. -- Tuesday: Why San Diego is so much better than San Francisco at solving ~olent crimes. -mail the writers at dp~rri~h@~fchronic!e, com and jvan~rb~ke~@~fchrooicl~,~. San Francisco among the 20 largest cities in the country Has a smaller ~opulation ..... New York 8,000,000 Los Angeles 3,694,000 Chicago 2,896,000 Houston I1,954,000 5/23/02 Philadelphia 1,517,000 Phoenix 1,321,000 San Diego 1,223,000 Dallas 11,118,000 Page 12 of 15 San Antonio 1,144,000 Detroit 951,000 San Jose 894,000 Indianapolis 1781,000 San Francisco 777,000 Jacksonville 735,000 Columbus 711,000 Austin 1656,oo0 BaltJmore 651,000 Memphis 650,000 Milwaukee 596,000 Boston 1589,000 ..... with fewer crimes... Violent crimes committed per 1,000 residents Baltimore 127 Detroit 24 Chicago 20 Memphis 16 Los Angeles 14 Philadelphia 114 Boston 13 Dallas 13 Jacksonville 12 New York 11 Houston [10 5/23/02 18 Milwaukee 10 San Francisco 10 Indianapolis 10 Columbus 8 Phoenix Page 13 of 15 San Diego 7 San Jose 6 Austin 5 San Antonio 4 ..... but more IPolice officers... Sworn officers per 1,000 population New York 5.0 Baltimore 4.8 Philadelphia 4.7 Chicago 4.7 Detroit 4.4 Boston 13.7 Milwaukee 3.4 San Francisco 2.9 Memphis 2.9 Houston 12.8 zos Angeles 2.5 2,olumbus 2.5 :)alias 2.4 Jacksonville 12.1 Phoenix 2.0 Indianapolis 2.0 Austin 1.7 San Diego 1.7 San JAntonio 1.7 5/23/02 Page 14 of 15 San Jose 1.5... ..and thelowestrate ofviolentcrimes solved Average Ipementofviolentcrimes solved 1996-2000 San Diego 64% Jacksonville 54 Indianapolis 52 San Jose 149 Los Angeles 49 Austin 46 New York 46 Dallas 144 Columbus 43 Boston 49 Memphis 41 Milwaukee 141 ~hiladelphia 39 Houston 39 Chicago 38 San Antonio 37 Baltimom 32 Phoenix 31 Detmit 29 San F~ncisco 128. CHART (2):VIOLENT CRIMES SOLVED IN CALIFORNIA CITIESAverage percent of violent crime solved in 2000 among California cities with populations of 200,000 or more:.Anaheim 75%San Diego 63%San Jose 61%Fremont 59%Bakersfield 50%Long Beach 47%Fr esno 46%Oakland 46%Los Angeles 46%Sacramento 44%Riverside 43%Santa Aha 37%Stockton 32%San Franc sco 26%Average 47%. 5/23/02 Chronicle GraphicSource: Chronicle research and California Dept. of Justice Page 15 of 15 5/23/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 7:49 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Pittsbg: Mayor Says No; Cop Retires After Review Bd Recommends Termination Murphy won't intervene in case By Marc Lukasiak Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, May 21, 2002 Mayor Tom Murphy won't reopen the case of a Pittsburgh police officer accused by a citizen-run police oversight agency of mistreating a mentally ill woman. Murphy wrote the Citizen Police Review Board saying that the officer, John O'Rourke, has retired and there is "nothing to be gained" by pursuing his case further, the board announced Monday. The review board had asked police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr. to fire O'Rourke because the board found the officer falsely arrested Patricia Bruce. McNeilly disagreed with the review board's conclusions, and it appealed to Murphy this month. The mayor refused to intervene in a letter last Thursday. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Walter Little twice accused O'Rourke of falsely arresting Bruce, who is the judge's sister. Little filed a complaint with the review board against O'Rourke in 1999. The board ruled that the officer's actions -- twice arresting Bruce on the same assault charges -- were grounds for termination. Instead of being fired, O'Rourke's disability retirement became official earlier this month, said his attorney, Chuck Evans. O'Rourke was injured in September when he tried to tackle a fleeing suspect and injured his knee, Evans said. After a partial knee replacement, doctors determined O'Rourke could no longer work as a police officer. "He's totally disabled and he's got to be retired," Evans said. Attempts to reach O'Rourke yesterday through his attorney were not successful. The review board executive director, Elizabeth Pittinger, said it was "convenient" that O'Rourke was injured and retired in the midst of the board's investigation and calls for termination. "In the end, the board's position is that the officer made a decision that presumably is in his best interests. It certainly is in the best interest of the community at large," Pittinger said. Evans said the long, winding course of O'Rourke's case is a result of differences between the review board -- which has no disciplinary power -- and the police department. The police union and other critics of the review board maintain it is a waste of taxpayer money because the city's Office of Municipal Investigations already checks allegations of police misconduct. OMI cleared O'Rourke for much of his conduct in the Bruce case. The officer was given an oral reprimand and sent to anger management counseling for his dispute with the District Attorney's Office. "The whole problem here is that Officer O'Rourke's case became a whipping boy for an institutional problem that exists between the review board and the city," Evans said. Marc Lukasiak can be reached at mlukasiak@tribweb, com or (412) 320-7939. 5/24/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Sub jeer: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Wednesday, May 22, 2002 3:12 PM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] Court of Appeals Deceision p[c07711 gif pic28253 gif pic06868 gif Although the principal issue in this matter concerns free speech, there's interesting language and references regarding community perception of police, and how police behavior impacts on people's commitment to the law. U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals PAPPAS v GIULIANI UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT August Term, 2001 (Argued: November 16, 2001 Decided: May 13, 2002 Errata Filed: May 17, 2002) Docket No. 00-9487 THOMAS PAPPAS Plaintiff-Appellant, RUDOLPH GIULIANI, Mayor of the City of New York and HOWARD SAFIR, Commissioner of the Police Department of the City of New York, Defendants-Appellees. BEFORE:LEVAL, SOTOMAYOR, Circuit Judges, and McMAHON, District Judge. {superscript: Plaintiff Thomas Pappas appeals from a summary judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York /Buchwald, J.), dismissing his claim that he was terminated from the New York City Police Department in violation of the First ~nendment by reason of his exercise of his rights of free speech. The Court of Appeals (Leval, J.) holds that the Police Department's action did not infringe Pappas's rights under the First ~nendment. Judge McMahon concurs in this opinion and files a separate concurring opinion. Judge Sotomayor dissents by separate opinion. AFFIRMED. CHRISTOPHER T. DUNN, Amicus Curiae New York Civil Liberties Union, New York, N.Y. (Arthur Eisenberg on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant. ROSEMARY CARROLL, Carroll & Friess, New York, N.Y., on the brief for Plaintiff-Appellant. MARGARET KING, for Michael D. Hess, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, New York, N.Y. (Edward F.X. Hart, Bryan D. Glass, Marta Ross, of counsel), for Defendants-Appellees. LEVAL, J. This appeal raises the question whether a municipal police department may, without violating the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech, terminate a police officer by reason of the officer's anonymous dissemination of bigoted racist anti-black and anti-semitic materials. Appellant Thomas Pappas brought this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against officials of the City of New York and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) alleging that he was unconstitutionally fired from his employment by the police department by reason of his exercising rights of free speech protected by the First Amendment. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Buchwald, J.) granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. We affirm the district court. Background Pappas was employed by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) from January 25, 1982 until his termination on August 18, 1999. At the time of his termination, Pappas worked in the Department's Management Information Systems Division (MISD), which was responsible for maintenance of its computer systems. On at least two occasions in 1996 and 1997, Pappas received letters from the Mineola Auxiliary Police Department (MAPD) soliciting charitable contributions and enclosing reply envelopes for use in sending contributions. Pappas stuffed the reply envelopes with o£fensive racially bigoted materials and returned them anonymously. The materials included printed fliers conveying anti-black and anti-semitic messages. The fliers asserted white supremacy, ridiculed black people and their culture, warned against the "Negro wolf . . . destroying American civilization with rape, robbery, and murder," and declaimed against "how the Jews control the TV networks and why they should be in the hands of the American public and not 2 the Jews." Upon receipt of these materials, the Nassau County Police Department then undertook an investigation in the hope of identifying the sender. It sent out a charitable solicitation mailing with coded return envelopes. Once again, a response envelope was returned, stuffed with similar racist materials. The Nassau County Police Department traced the source to P.O.. Box 321 in Mineola, New York - a post office box registered under the name "Thomas Pappas/The Populist Party for the Town of North Hempstead." The Nassau County Police Department made another mailing in 1997, with the same result. Upon ascertaining that Thomas Pappas was a New York City police officer, the Nassau County Police Department notified the New York City Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB), which repeated the investigative experiment, sending Pappas further charitable solicitation mailings, once again with the result that Pappas returned the reply envelopes stuffed with similarly provocative materials. On March 24, 1998, Pappas was interrogated by a New York City police officer. Pappas at first admitted sending such materials to his friends, and, after some evasion, admitted sending the materials in response to the MAPD and other solicitations. The NYPD charged Pappas with violation of a Departmental regulation. A disciplinary trial was held before Josefina Martinez, Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Trials. Pappas asserted at the trial that he had sent the materials because, "I was protesting, and I was tired of being shaken down for money by these so-called charitable organizations. And it was a form of protest, just put stuff back in an envelope and send stuff back as a form of protest." The NYPD and Pappas stipulated that Pappas's conduct and the subsequent investigation had been the subject of news media reports in the New York Times, Fox 5 news, ABC News on Channel 7, and a Long Island television station. Commissioner Martinez issued a 20-page decision, finding Pappas guilty of violating a Departmental Regulation by disseminating defamatory materials through the mails, and recommending his dismissal from the force. Police Commissioner Howard Safir adopted the recommendation and dismissed Pappas. Pappas then filed this action seeking monetary and injunctive relief, claiming that his termination violated his First Amendment rights. The district court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the action. (superscript: 1) This appeal follows. Discussion Where a government employee suing for violation of the First Amendment establishes that he was terminated by reason of his speech "upon a matter of public concern," the Supreme Court has instructed that the court's task is "to arrive at a balance between the interests of the . . citizen, in commenting on matters of public concern and the interest of the State, as an employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees." Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 568 (1968). See also Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 142 (1983). Under the balancing test, the governmental employer may defeat the claim by demonstrating that it "reasonably believed that the speech would potentially interfere with or disrupt the government's activities, and can persuade the court that the potential disruptiveness was sufficient to 3 outweigh the First Amendment value of that speech." Heil v. Santoro, 147 F.3d 103, 109 (2d Cir. 1998) (internal citations omitted). There is no dispute that Pappas was terminated because of his speech and would not have been terminated were it not for his speech. The defendants contend that Pappas's anonymous sending of the bigoted materials may not be "fairly characterized as constituting speech on a matter of public concern." Connick, 461 U.S. at 146. The First Amendment concerns itself less with speech relating to an individual's private concerns than with speech relating to matters of public concern; accordingly a public employee has greater latitude to discipline an employee over speech expressing private concerns. "When employee expression cannot be fairly considered as relating to any matter of political, social, or other concern to the cor~munity, government officials should enjoy wide latitude in managing their offices, without intrusive oversight by the judiciary in the name of the First Amendment." Id. at 146. "Whether an employee's speech addresses a matter of public concern must be determined by the content, form, and context of a given statement, as revealed by the whole record." Id. at 147-48. Because of our resolution of the Pickering balancing test, we assume without deciding that Pappas's mailings constituted speech on a matter of public concern. Pickering's balancing test weighs the plaintiff's interest in freely speaking his mind on a matter of public concern against the State's interest in the performance of its functions. Picketing, 391 U.S. at 568. Under our Constitutional doctrines, few values are more carefully and thoroughly protected than the citizen's right to speak his mind on matters of public concern without interference by government. Nonetheless, the right is not absolute. At times, the right of free speech conflicts with other important governmental values, posing the problem which interest should prevail. The effective functioning of entities of government could be seriously undermined by its employees' unrestrained declarations of their views. For this reason, the employee's right of free speech is sometimes subordinated to the interest of the effective functioning of the governmental employer. The effectiveness of a city's police department depends importantly on the respect and trust of the community and on the perception in the co~hmunity that it enforces the law fairly, even-handedly, and without bias. See Tom R. Tyler, Why People Obey the Law 22-23, 67 (1990) (demonstrating how belief in the legitimacy of legal authority and trust in law enforcement leads to greater compliance with law). If the police department treats a segment of the population of any race, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual preference, etc., with contempt, so that the particular minority comes to regard the police as oppressor rather than protector, respect for law enforcement is eroded and the ability of the police to do its work in that community is impaired. Members of the minority will be less likely to report crimes, to offer testimony as witnesses, and to rely on the police for their protection. When the police make arrests in that cormmunity, its members are likely to assume that the arrests are a product of bias, rather than well-founded, protective law enforcement. And the department's ability to recruit and train personnel from that community will be damaged. See David Cole, No Equal Justice 169-178 (1999) (describing the costs that the perception of inequality and disparate treatment places on law enforcement; it engenders distrust and unwillingness to cooperate and encourages crime), Brandon Garrett, Note, Standing While Black: Distinguishing Lyons in Racial Profiling Cases, 100 Colum. L. Rev. 1815, 1833 nn.72-3 (2000) (describing social science evidence that a public perception of police bias undermines community cooperation with law enforcement and compliance with law), C.J. Chivers, Alienation is a Partner for Black Officers, N.Y. Times, April 3, 2001, at Al; Kevin Flynn, Feeling Scorn on the Beat and Pressure From Above , N.Y. Times, Dec. 26, 2000, at A1 (describing how negative public perceptions of police in New York, especially by minority communities, has led to Iow morale, and difficulty in recruitment and retention, especially 4 among minorities). For a New York City police officer to disseminate leaflets that trumpet bigoted messages expressing hostility to Jews, ridiculing African Americans and attributing to them a criminal disposition to rape, robbery, and murder, tends to promote the view among New York's citizenry that those are the opinions of New York's police officers. The capacity of such statements to damage the effectiveness of the police department in the community is immense. Such statements also have a great capacity to cause harm within the ranks of the Police Department by promoting resentment, distrust and racial strife between fellow officers. In these circumstances, an individual police officer's right to express his personal opinions must yield to the public good. The restrictions of the First Amendment do not require the New York City Police Department to continue the employment of an officer whose dissemination of such racist messages so risks to harm the Department's performance of its mission. In the words of Justice Holmes, "A policeman may have a constitutional right to [speak his mind], but he has no constitutional right to be a policeman." McAuliffe v. Mayor of New Bedford, 155 Mass. 216, 220, 29 N.E. 517, 517 (1892) (quoted in Connick, 461 U.S. at 143-44). Pappas argues that the foregoing considerations should not apply to him because he tried to conceal his identity as the source of the bigoted opinions. He contends he is being punished for his opinions, rather than his actions. The argument misses the mark. Pappas was tried and found to have violated Police Department regulations. That fact is important to our upholding of the lawfulness of the Department's actions. If Pappas had written his bigoted views in a private diary, or revealed them in confidence to his family or intimate friends, and they had become known accidentally, or through a breach of confidence, that case would present different considerations. We do not speculate how such a case would be decided. But those are not the facts we deal with. Here, Pappas deliberately sought to publicize his views. He repeatedly sent leaflets that aggressively pronounced his provocative views to organizations engaged in public solicitation. He admittedly did so with the intention of influencing public opinion. The Department appropriately took action against him not because of his private opinions but because of his conduct in violation of Departmental regulations -- conduct that risked to harm the Department in the performance of its governmental mission. Although Pappas tried to conceal his identity as speaker, he took the risk that the effort would fail. We turn now to the arguments Judge Sotomayor advances in her dissenting opinion. Judge Sotomayor attaches great importance to the fact that Pappas did not occupy a "high level 'supervisory,' 'confidential,' or 'policymaking' role" in the Police Department. She relies on the Supreme Court's statement in Rankin v. McPherson, 483 U.S. 378 (1987} that where "an employee serves no confidential, policymaking, or public contact role, the danger to the agency's successful functioning from that employee's private speech is minimal." Id. at 390-91, as well as our observation in McEvoy v. Spencer, 124 F.3d 92, 103 (2d Cir. 1997) that "the more the employee's job requires confidentiality, policymaking, or public contact, the greater the state's interest in firing her for expression that offense her employer." (internal quotation marks omitted). While it is undoubtedly the case that ill-considered public statements of a high policy- making executive often have a higher likelihood of h~rming the $ employer's accomplishment of its mission than similar statements made by a file clerk, laborer or a janitorial employee, it by no means follows that rank and file employees are incapable of harming the employer's effectiveness by their speech, or that governmental employers are powerless to sanction lower level employees when their statements do have the capacity to harm the employer's performance of its mission. Neither Rankin nor McEvoy implied any such thing. In Rankin, a clerical employee in the Harris County, Texas, Constable's office, who had no contact with the public, was fired because, upon learning of the assassination attempt on President Reagan, she and a coworker discussed privately their mutual dislike of the President's welfare cutbacks, and she added, "If they go after him again, I hope they get him." Id. at 380. The lower court found that the statement was not a criminal threat, but rather a hyperbolically framed statement of a political opinion concerning the President's policies. "Although [the plaintiff's] job title was deputy constable, this was the case only because all employees of the Constable's office, regardless of job function, were deputy constables. She was not a commissioned peace officer, did not wear a uniform, was not authorized to make arrests or permitted to carry a gun.." Id. at 380 (internal citations omitted). She was a typist and had no contact with the public. There was "no indication that she would ever . . have any involvement with . . the minimal law enforcement activity engaged in by the Constable's office." Id. at 392. The Court identified as "pertinent considerations [in assessing the employer's legitimate interest in disciplining an employee for speech] whether the statement impairs discipline by superiors or harmony among co-workers, has a detrimental impact on close working relationships for which personal loyalty and confidence are necessary, or impedes the performance of the speaker's duties or interferes with the regular operation of the enterprise." Id. at 388. "These considerations, and indeed the very nature of the [Pickering] balancing test, make apparent that the state interest element of the test focuses on the effective functioning of the public employer's enterprise." Id. The Court easily concluded, considering all the circumstances, that the plaintiff's hyperbolic private utterance of her political opinions did not threaten any of the employer's legitimate interests, and in particular did not "interfere[] with the efficient functioning of the [Constable's] office." Id. at 389. This case is significantly different in several respects: (i) Pappas is a police officer, while the Rankin plaintiff was a civilian clerical employee; (ii) Pappas disseminated his diatribes publicly while the Rankin plaintiff was overheard speaking privately to a coworker; (iii) Pappas was venting his personal racial bias, while the Rankin plaintiff (albeit in foolishly hyperbolic terms) was discussing the governmental policies of the President, see Connick, 461 U.S. at 150 ("the State's burden in justifying a particular discharge varies depending upon the nature of the employee's expression."); (iv) furthermore, and most important, upon consideration of all the pertinent facts, while the Rankin plaintiff's statement had little or no capacity to harm the effective functioning of the employer, the making of Pappas's statements by a police officer has a very high capacity to impair the effective functioning of the Police Department in the discharge of its public mission and to provoke anger and discord among fellow police officers. Had the facts of this case conformed to Rankin's in any of these respects, we might well reach the same conclusion as the Rankin Court. But Rankin certainly did not mean that only high level, policy-making employees may be removed by reason of their speech. To be sure, the Supreme Court observed 6 that "[t]he burden of caution employees bear with respect to the words they speak will vary with the extent of authority and public accountability the employee's role entails." Rankin, 483 U.S. at 390. By no means does it follow that an ordinary police officer is immune from disciplinary discharge for public statements that carry a high potential to impair the police department's performance of its mission. The main consideration in assessing the employer's interest is the capacity of the employee's public speech to harm the effective functioning of the employer's enterprise. The public perception in minority communities that risks to harm the mission of the Police Department is not that the Police Commissioner or his principal deputies are racially biased. It is rather the perception that ordinary cops are biased. An ordinary police officer's distribution of these bigoted hate-filled materials reinforces that perception and thus harms the effectiveness of the Police Department. Furthermore, for police officers of one race to express hatred and scorn for members of another race obviously fans anger, dissension and racial tensions among officers of different races and thus inflicts harm of a second kind on the Department's performance of its mission. Judge Sotomayor's second argument is that, because Pappas was assigned to computer work in the Management Systems Information Division rather than to law enforcement contact with the public, his statements had no capacity to impair the Department's effectiveness. If Pappas were not a police officer but rather a civilian employee hired to work on the Department's computers, his case would have greater similarity to Rankin, and the capacity of his racist remarks to impair the Department's performance of its mission would be diminished. But Pappas is not a civilian employee. He is a cop. The fact that he was assigned to work on computers does not make him any less a cop, either in fact or in public perception. His assignment furthermore was subject to change; at any time he could have been assigned to a beat. If the press became aware of his dissemination of racist diatribes, it would report that this was done by a police officer - not that it was done by a person employed to work on Police Department computers. Furthermore, as to the capacity of Pappas's statements to cause racial tension and strife among fellow police officers, it would make no difference whether he was assigned to patrol a beat or to program computers. Judge Sotomayor's third point is that Pappas's statements were made from his home, on his own time, and anonymously, in a manner that did not reveal that he was a police officer. Judge Sotomayor cites the Supreme Court's observation in Connick that "[e]mployee speech which transpires entirely on the employee's own time, and in non-work areas of the office, [brings] different factors into the Pickering calculus, and might lead to a different conclusion." 461 U.S. at 153 n.13. That observation in Connick was made with reference to an employee's complaint about office policies and procedures. It is undoubtedly true that complaints about office policies made away from the office to persons having no connection with the employment would generally have little capacity to harm the employer. It is also true that Pappas's proclamations of bigotry made privately, away from work, during off-duty time, had a lesser likelihood of undermining the Department's effectiveness than if he had passed out his leaflets in uniform to citizens in the streets of New York or to his fellow officers at the workplace. But to say that his statements would have had greater likelihood of causing harm if made in uniform or at work does not mean that they did not have a substantial capacity to cause harm as they were made. Where and when the statements are made is certainly a factor to be considered in the overall assessment, but it is only a factor. No talismanic or determinative significance attaches to it. What we must do in such cases is assess the entire picture - especially the likelihood that the employee's speech will harm the functioning of the governmental employer. Given the nature of 7 Pappas's statements and their very high capacity to inflict serious harm on the employer's mission if it were discovered that they came from a police officer, the fact that Pappas acted anonymously, at home, and on his own time does not alter the ultimate conclusion that the Department was entitled to dismiss him because of the harm to the Department that his statements risked to inflict. Judge Sotomayor's final point is that the Department should not be permitted to discharge Pappas because, absent the Department's decision to bring disciplinary charges, no eno would have known that these offensive materials were being distributed by a police officer. Judge Sotomayor argues in essence that, upon learning that Pappas was violating its rules by disseminating bigoted racist materials, the Department should have swept the matter under the rug hoping ne one would ever learn the facts; and if it chose instead te bring charges against Pappas, it has only itself to blame for the resulting harm to its reputation, and may not discharge Pappas for his misconduct. In our view this argument is seriously misguided as a policy matter, and is premised furthermore ena misunderstanding ef the law. First, as to the policy implications, we have little sympathy for the suggestion that the proper course for the Police Department, upon learning that one of its officers was disseminating offensive racially bigoted materials, was to hush the matter up and hope to keep it secret. Had the Department taken this course and the truth had eventually become known, the harm to the Department would have been all the greater because the Department would be perceived as tolerating Pappas's acts and being in passive complicity. While it may be true that the Department could have avoided adverse publicity had it covered up Pappas's misconduct rather than proceeding against him, that does not make it the right thing to do, and the Department did not lose the right, as Judge Sotomayor suggests, to dismiss Pappas for this misconduct merely because the bringing of the disciplinary action brought to public light the fact that it was a police officer who was responsible for the hate mailings. Judge Sotomayor's argument is also premised on a misunderstanding of the government's burden under Pickering. A governmental employer's right to discharge an employee by reason of his speech in matters of public importance does not depend on the employer's having suffered actual harm resulting from the speech. The employee's speech must be of such nature that the government employer reasonably believes that it is likely to interfere with the performance of the employer's mission. See Waters v. Churchill, 511 U.S. 661, 673-74 (1994) (the government need only "make a substantial showing that the speech is . . . likely to be disruptive"); Connick, 461 U.S. at 152 ("[W]e do not see the necessity for an employer to allow events to unfold to the extent that the disruption of the office and the destruction of working relationships is manifest before taking action."); Heil, 147 F.3d atl09 ("the government can prevail if it can show that it reasonably believed that the speech would potentially interfere with or disrupt the government's activities"); Jeffries v. Harleston, 52 F.3d 9, 12-13 (2d Cir. 1995) (rejecting any actual harm requirement, and stating that the proper inquiry is into "potential disruptiveness"). The employer's interest in discharging the employee is demonstrated if the employee's statements create a significant risk of harm, regardless whether that harm actually materializes. In conclusion, it is indeed possible to imagine changed facts that would make the case against Pappas still stronger. The Department's right to dismiss him would have been even clearer if he were a high ranking policy- maker, or if he had distributed his leaflets to the public while on duty wearing his police uniform. The fact that a stronger case can be imagined does not mean that the actual case for discharge is inadequate. Considering the facts as they are, balancing Pappas's interest in his right to 8 pronounce his views against the interest of the Department as an employer in promoting the efficiency of the public service it performs, see Pickering, 391 U.S. at 568; Connick, 461 U.S. at 142, we conclude that the Department was entitled to terminate Pappas by reason of his public dissemination of his diatribes. The Department's reasonable perception of serious likely impairment of its performance of its mission outweighed Pappas's interest in free speech. The district court properly held the Department's action did not violate Pappas's rights under the First Amendment. Conclusion The judgment of the district court is affirmed. FOOTNOTES The Honorable Colleen McMahon, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation. The district court decided that the NYPD's administrative proceedings did not bar Pappas's subsequent ~ 1983 suit under collateral estoppel, but went on to conclude that Pappas could not make out a First ~/nendment violation. Because we agree with the district court on the First ~mendment issue, we do not discuss the questions of preclusion. (Embedded image moved to file: pic07711.gif) (Embedded image moved to file: pic28253.gif} LEGAL NEWS: Top Headlines · Supreme Court Commentary · Crime · Cyberspace · International US FEDERAL LAW: Constitution - Codes · Supreme Court Opinions · Circuit Opinions US STATE LAW: State Constitutions · State Codes Case Law RESEARCH: Dictionary · Forms · LawCrawler . Library · Suramaries of Law LEGAL SUBJECTS: Constitutional · Intellectual Property · Criminal · Labor · more... GOVERNMENT RESOURCES: US Federal · US State · Directories · more... INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES: Country Guides · Trade · World Constitutions · more... COMMUNITY: Message Boards · Newsletters · Greedy Associates Boards TOOLS: Office · Calendar · CLE · Email · FA~X · West WorkSpace · FirmSite 9 Advertising Info · Add URL · Help · Comments Jobs@FindLaw · Site Map (Embedded image moved to file: pic06868.gif) Company I Privacy Policy I Disclaimer Copyright © 1994-2001 FindLaw *** eSafe scanned this email for malicious content *** *** IHPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders *** Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Kelvyn.Anderson@phila.gov Tuesday, May 21, 2002 10:47 AM update@nacole.org Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov [NACOLE Update] No Lie Detectors for Philadelphia Police applicants Police applicants no longer face lie-detector tests By Thomas J. Gibbons Jr. Inquirer Staff Writer In a major policy shift, candidates for the Philadelphia Police Department will no longer have to pass a lie-detector test to be accepted to the force, according to a directive from Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson. The order takes effect immediately, affecting a new list of prospective officers who have yet to complete their qualifications for the department. "We just have a brand-new list [of candidates], and I've talked to the deputy commissioner of Internal Affairs indicating that I want nobody on that list to be polygraphed," Johnson said in an interview yesterday. The commissioner said he made the decision after a review of the policy by a panel that included Fraternal Order of Police president Richard Costello; Maureen Rush, vice president of public safety at the University of Pennsylvania; and city lawyers. "What I am trying to do is make our system fair and consistent for everyone," said Johnson, discussing the policy that was first implemented in the late 1970s, several years before the force began reeling from major corruption probes that reached into the highest ranks. "I think that there are a lot of applicants who we've lost who would have made outstanding police officers that, because they couldn't pass the polygraph, were rejected," the commissioner said. A city official involved extensively in department corruption probes disagreed with the commissioner's decision, however, saying that the testing was helpful in catching bad candidates. "I'm disappointed to see it go," said the official, who asked not to be named. Costello said he agreed with Johnson's decision, saying that those who advocate use of a polygraph "never took one themselves." "Johnson is from the old school, where police work is done by police officers and not by trinkets," Costello said. Costello said he favored extensive background investigations of candidates to reveal character flaws. He called the polygraph "nothing more than a gadget." "It's unreliable. It does not measure truth or falsehood. It measures nervousness," Costello said. Still, a number of police departments across the country make it part of their hiring process. According to Philadelphia police statistics, no one gets on the force in Baltimore, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, or the Pennsylvania State Police without taking one. A police spokesman in Los Angeles said the test was reinstituted there about 18 months ago after not being used for about 10 years. Federal agencies, including the FBI and Secret Service, also use the tests as a condition of employment. Locally, the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University forces do not require them. Neither does New York City. "We never have administered a lie-detector test as a condition of employment," said Kevin Czartoryski, a spokesman for the New York City police. Johnson, citing a recent rash of arrests of city officers, said the polygraph was not effective in weeding out new officers who might be tempted into wrongdoing. "It's not going to eliminate corruption because we have enough problems right now with the officers that we have," Johnson said. In the past, the test had been used mainly to isolate people with drug backgrounds, officials said. Johnson said that can now effectively be done with hair testing that can prove use of drugs going back as far as nine months. Recruits also are subjected to random urine tests that continue after they graduate. The key to a good recruit is an extensive background check, said Johnson, who formerly headed the unit that conducted background investigations and who for years has tried to have polygraph tests of candidates stopped. He said he would enlarge the background unit to make sure thorough checks are done. "I think you will find out more by going out there, hitting the turf and asking questions, doing things to find out about a person's background than [by] just sitting in a chair and asking to tell us everything." Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 11:42 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] NACOLE Conference Call Minutes of 5-23 02 Hi Guys, Here are the 5-23 Minutes in 2 formats, for you to select which you prefer. In the email below, or as an attachment in Word. We had no Quorum, so no votes taken, but you can read the discussion & new info re conference and other stuff. Malvina, when you return, you need to connect with Clyde because he has not sent you an updated mailing list: nobody who has joined since the Summer 2001 Newsletter mail list is on your list. He is sending newsletters to those people, but your list needs to have the new folks entered. Take care, all. Sue XXXXXXXx NACOLE Conference Call Minutes May 23, 2002 1-800-985-9803 x2814 Noon Calif.; 1 PM Denver; 3 PM Cambridge, Cincinnati, Prince George's Dede and Chris, Cameron & Carol: Check with phone company re time with daylight savings time changes; corresponds to noon Calif. Present: Attard, Casimere, Davis (Until 12:30), Wilhelm, Quinn, Sandoval (12:30) NO QUORUM-No votes taken. Non-Board: Ceja-Aragon Absent: Aarenson, Guerrero-Daly, Johnson, Montiero, Guerrero-Daly, Reeder Minutes Approval of Mamh 1-3 Midwinter Planning Meeting: NO QUORUM-No votes taken. Minutes Approval of April 18, 2002 Meeting: NO QUORUM-No votes taken. 1. President's Report -Nominations Committee Update -Don will be working with Cameron Smith and Carol. Don will initiate a conference call. (5/23/02 update) Timeline Pending: Driven by 10-1-02 Deadline for mailing to Members per bylaws "Grow Membership": Clyde recently mailed renewal notices for those whose membership expired prior to June. I will send another renewal to San Francisco. (5/23/02 update) Midwest & East Project: Not Discussed Clyde, Joe, Jim & Chris Fundraising: Cameron Smith has offered to work on fundreising. Training Project: Not Discussed Spring Newsletter: Has been mailed out. (5/23/02 update) 2. Financial Report 2001: Clyde and Rose 2001 Income Tax Filing- The Accountant could not get the taxes done by the deadline. He filed for an extension. (5/23/02 update) Clyde will forward information to Rose to allow us to utilize the accrual based accounting system that has been developed. He committed to complete his part of this work by June 30. (5/23/02 update) 5/28/02 Page 2 of 3 3. Conference Update: Contract is completed. Sue and Bob Not Discussed Anyone available to manage/follow-up on Fundraising/Outreach/Letter -Malvina's letter. Put package together to solicit funds from the larger list of folks in oversight -Malvina's list Keynote Update: Sue-Julian Bond has declined. We are still hoping for Mfume. (5/23/02 update) Recognition Awards: Not Discussed Reports on Conference Duties by Board "Shepherd" Day 1 PM Session: Police and Constitution 101: Bob. Not Discussed DAY 2: Concurrent Short Subjects in AM: Not Discussed 8:15-9:15-Data Base-Early Warning System: Sue 8:15-9:15-Risk Management-The Efficacy of Civilian Oversight: Sue 9:30-10:15-Investigative Reporting on Minneapolis/Pittsburgh: Bob - Not Discussed 10:30-12-Building and Maintaining a Political Base (Panel) Teresa (5/23/02 update through email) Teresa will be taking the panel participants from San Jose. This session should be called, "Building Your Base of Support" or something to that effect instead of "Political Support" since the panel will have three primary focuses: Community, Political, and Media. 1. COMMUNITY: Professor Merylee Shelton will speak on organizing and mobilizing community support. 2. POLITICAL: Teresa is waiting confirmation from one of our City Council members. 3. MEDIA: Theresa has a commitment from the San Jose Mercury News to participate and pay for travel expenses for one of their top reporters. Her goal will be to bring a top notch group of people and to have the cost absorbed by their own offices. She would like to see requests brought to the board for approval for speaker expenses. She also would like clarification/confirmation that speakers are not required to pay for registration. If you have any questions, please email them. FREE LUNCH: [Insert Civil Jan Oversight 101 with Brown Bag Option?-Barbara] Next Meeting-- Not Discussed DAY 2 AFTERNOON SESSIONS -- Not Discussed 1:15-3-Co-Operation and Conflict Resolution: Malvina 3:15-5-Investigation and Interview Techniques: Teresa DAY 3 -- Not Discussed Conference Wrap-Up- General Membership Meeting/Elections To Do List: Not Discussed Gatekeeper- Speaker expenditures Membership Drive at Conference Finance Committee to determine what financial statement should be put out at the conference and on the web. 2003 Conference Dates & Place Possibilities: LA Sheriffs oversight is interested in hosting. (5/23~02 update) Next Teleconference June 20, 2002 1-800-985-9803, x2814 Noon Calif.; 1 PM Denver; 3 PM Cambridge, Cincinnati, Prince George's 5/28/02 Dede and Chris, Cameron & Carol: Please check with phone company re: time daylight savings time changes: coordinate w noon Calif. eSafe scanned this email for malicious content IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders Page 3 of 3 5/28/02 NACOLE Conference Call Minutes May 23, 2002 1-800-985-9803 x2814 Noon Calif.; 1 PM Denver; 3 PM Cambridge, Cincinnati, Prince George's Dede and Chris, Cameron & Carol: Check with phone company re time with daylight savings time changes; corresponds to noon Calif. Present: Attard, Casimere, Davis (Until 12:30), Wilhelm, Quinn, Sandoval (12:30) NO QUORUM--No votes taken. Non-Board: Ceja-Aragon Absent: Aaronson, Guerrero-Daly, Johnson, Montiero, Guerrero-Daly, Reeder Minutes Approval of March 1-3 Midwinter Planning Meeting: NO QUORUM--No votes taken. Minutes Approval of April 18, 2002 Meeting: NO QUORUM--No votes taken. 1. President's Report -Nominations Committee Update -Don will be working with Cameron Smith and Carol. Don will initiate a conference call. (5/23/02 update) Timeline Pending: Driven by 10-1-02 Deadline for mailing to Members per bylaws "Grow Membership": Clyde recently mailed renewal notices for those whose membership expired prior to June. I will send another renewal to San Francisco. (5/23/02 update) Midwest & East Project: Not Discussed Clyde, Joe, Jim & Chris Fundraising: Cameron Smith has offered to work on fundraising. Training Project: Not Discussed Spring Newsletter: Has been mailed out. (5/23/02 update) 2. Financial Report 2001: Clyde and Rose 2001 Income Tax Filing-- The Accountant could not get the taxes done by the deadline. He filed for an extension. (5/23/02 update) Clyde will forward information to Rose to allow us to utilize the accrual based accounting system that has been developed. He committed to complete his part of this work by June 30. (5/23/02 update) 3. Conference Update: Contract is completed. Sue and Bob Not Discussed Anyone available to manage/follow-up on Fundraising/Outreach/Letter -Malvina's letter. Put package together to solicit funds from the larger list of folks in oversight - Malvina's list Keynote Update: Sue--Julian Bond has declined. We are still hoping for Mfume. (5/23/02 update) Recognition Awards: Not Discussed Reports on Conference Duties by Board "Shepherd" Day 1 PM Session: Police and Constitution 101: Bob. Not Discussed DAY 2: Concurrent Short Subjects in AM: Not Discussed 8:15-9:15-Data Base-Early Warning System: Sue 8:15-9:15-Risk Management-The Efficacy of Civilian Oversight: Sue 9:30-10:15-Investigative Reporting on Minneapolis/Pittsburgh: Bob -- Not Discussed 10:30-12-Building and Maintaining a Political Base (Panel) Teresa (5/23/02 update through email) Teresa will be taking the panel participants from San Jose. This session should be called, "Building Your Base of Support" or something to that effect instead of "Political Support" since the panel will have three primary focuses: Community, Political, and Media. 1. COMMUNITY: Professor Merylee Shelton will speak on organizing and mobilizing community support. 2. POLITICAL: Teresa is waiting confirmation from one of our City Council members. 3. MEDIA: Theresa has a commitment from the San Jose Mercury News to participate and pay for travel expenses for one of their top reporters. Her goal will be to bring a top notch group of people and to have the cost absorbed by their own offices. She would like to see requests brought to the board for approval for speaker expenses. She also would like clarification/confirmation that speakers are not required to pay for registration. If you have any questions, please email them. FREE LUNCH: [Insert Civilian Oversight 101 with Brown Bag Option?-Barbara] Next Meeting-- Not Discussed DAY 2 AFTERNOON SESSIONS -- Not Discussed 1:15-3-Co-Operation and Conflict Resolution: Malvina 3:15-5-Investigation and Interview Techniques: Teresa DAY 3 -- Not Discussed Conference Wrap-Up- General Membership Meeting/Elections To Do List: Not Discussed Gatekeeper- Speaker expenditures Membership Drive at Conference Finance Comanittee to determine what financial statement should be put out at the conference and on the web. 2003 Conference Dates & Place Possibilities: LA Sheriff's oversight is interested in hosting. (5/23/02 update) Next Teleconference June 20, 2002 1-800-985-9803, x2814 Noon Calif.; 1 PM Denver; 3 PM Cambridge, Cincinnati, Prince George's Dede and Chris, Cameron & Carol: Please check with phone company re: time daylight savings time changes: coordinate w noon Calif. .~ 0.) ~.~ ~'~ ~.) ~-~ (~1 0 ~D Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Attard, Barbara [BAttard@ci.berkeley.ca.us] Monday, June 03, 2002 2:57 PM Sue Quinn (E-mail) Three Articles on Profiling, Prisons Study Shows Building Prisons Did Not Prevent Repeat Crimes, New York Times By FOX BUTTERFIELD, June 3, 2002 he rate at which inmates released from state prisons commit new crimes rose from 1983 to 1994, a time when the number of people behind bars doubled, according to a Justice Department study released yesterday. The report found that 67 percent of inmates released from state prisons in 1994 coR~itted at least one serious new crime within three years. That is 5 percent higher than among inmates released in 1983. Criminologists generally agree that the prison-building binge of the last 25 years, in which the number of ~ericans incarcerated quadrupled to almost two million, has helped reduce the crime rate simply by keeping criminals off the streets. There has been more debate about whether longer sentences and the increase in the number of prisoners have also helped to deter people from committing crimes. The new report, some crime experts say, suggests that the answer is no. "The main thing this report shews is that our experiment with building lots more prisons as a deterrent to crime has not worked," said Joan Petersilia, a professor of criminology at the University of California at Irvine and an expert en parole. A likely reason for the increase in recidivism, Professor Petersilia said, is that state governments, to save money and to be seen as tough on crime, cut back on rehabilitation programs, like drug treatment, vocational education and classes to prepare prisoners for life at home. Only about 15 percent ef state prison inmates are enrolled in academic or rehabilitation classes, she said. The report was prepared for the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the statistical branch of the Justice Department, by Patrick Langan a~d David Levin. It is the first major study of recidivism in more than a decade. The report examined 272,111 former inmates in 15 states during the first three years after their release. The report indicates that the first year after an inmate is released is critical to his or her success in returning to civilian life. For example, the study found that two-thirds of the inmates who were rearrested were rearrested within 12 months of their release. In addition, the report found that the number of times prisoners had been arrested was the best predictor of whether they would co~it more crimes after being released and how quickly they would return to their criminal ways. Prisoners who have one prier arrest have a 40.6 percent recidivism rate three years after being released, the study said. With two prior arrests, the rearrest rate within three years climbs to 47.5 percent. With three prior arrests it rises again, to 55.2 percent within three years. Then, with each additional prior arrest, it continues to rise, reaching a rearrest rate of 82.1 percent for inmates with more than 15 prior arrests. Prisoners with a greater history of previous arrests are likely to be rearrested faster. Prisoners with one prior arrest have a 21 percent rearrest rate within a year of their release. But inmates with 16 or more prior arrests have a 74 percent recidivism rate within the first year after their release, the study found. Professor Betersilia said the finding about the recidivism rate reaching 67.5 percent in three years was particularly striking because earlier studies, dating to the 1960's, have all found that rearrest rates of American prisoners tend to hover at about two-thirds within the first three years after release. These findings have occurred even as the prison philosophy of the day has shifted from rehabilitation to getting tough on crime to deterrence, with seemingly little difference in the outcome. Jeremy Travis, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, said the report showed that "the population getting out of prison continues to pose a high risk of reoffending." This is true, at least in part, Mr. Travis said, because state prison departments, with a few exceptions, have done a poor job of managing the critical period when an inmate is released. Often, Mr. Travis said, inmates are released having received little or no job training, drug treatment or education in how to be a better parent. Many are unable to find jobs and are barred by law from living in public housing projects, so they quickly return to crime, said Mr. Travis, a former director of the National Institute of Justice and deputy police commissioner in New York City. The report found that people who commit crimes involving money are more likely to be rearrested than those committing homicide or rape, with a recidivism rate of 70 percent for robbers and 74 percent for burglars compared with 41 percent for those whose previous crime was homicide and 46 percent for those whose previous crime was rape. Feinstein says racial profiling fears hinder FBI Admit that nationality is key, she says SF Chronicle Zachary Coile, Diana Walsh, Chronicle Washington Bureau <mailto:zcoile@sfchronicle.com> Monday June 3, 2002 Washington -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein said U.S. authorities have hurt their efforts to track down terrorists living in the United States because they're too afraid of being accused of racial profiling of Arab A~[ericans. The California Democrat, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she believes the FBI should use nationality gs one factor in trying to determine who might be plotting attacks against America. "If you take a look at it, at this stage at least, one isn't going to look for blond Norwegians," Feinstein said on CNN's "Late Edition" on Sunday. "Now that may change in the future, but I think the racial profiling debate has created a kind of disservice, if you will, in the terrorism area, particularly with respect to the FBI. I believe it has had a chilling impact." Feinstein's co~lments came following reports that the FBI didn't act quickly on a Phoenix FBI agent's warning that Middle Eastern men were training in U.S. flight schools for terrorist attacks because the agency feared it would be seen as racial profiling of Arab and Arab Americans. The agency is still reeling from its bungled espionage investigation of former nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee, which led to a huge backlash from civil rights groups and Asian Americans who believed Lee was branded as a Chinese spy mostly because he is Chinese American. Feinstein was responding to a question from a caller asking why new FBI spying rules released last week didn't explicitly target immigrants from Arab countries. "Why are we not just coming straight out and recognizing the fact that we need to profile young Middle Eastern radical factions that are in our country?" the caller asked. Feinstein said the FBI's response to Phoenix agent Kenneth Williams' July 10 memo led her to believe that the agency was too fearful of using race or nationality in terrorism investigations. "This brings up the whole debate of racial profiling, which I believe -- and i didn't initially -- but I believe has played a role in the reticence of the FBI," she said. "I believe it played a role in the reticence to really move ahead with Mr. Williams' memo." Helal Omeira, executive director for the Northern California Council on Islamic Relations, said most law enforcement agencies have found that racial profiling is not an effective investigative tool and that the attacks on Sept. 11 would not have been avoided if federal agencies had used it. "What she is saying doesn't make sense. . . Every single report that I have read in the media about what could have prevented Sept. 11 has said that racial profiling could not have prevented them," said Omeira. "Just about every major police department or investigative team around the country 2 has denounced racial profiling as an effective tool." Efforts by the Justice Department to use racial profiling have caused a storm of controversy. When Attorney General John Ashcroft asked 5,000 young men who recently emigrated from Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries to come in for voluntary interviews, several Bay Area police departments, including San Francisco, Pleasanton and San Jose, refused to participate in the questioning, saying it would threaten their relationships with immigrant communities. In the Silicon Valley, Omeira said, Arab Americans have invited local FBI agents to meet with Arab Americans in their mosques. "We know they are at our events. Why? Because we invite them," said Omeira, who added he applauds the FBI's recent efforts to hold job fairs at mosques on the east coast in hopes of hiring agents of Arab descent. "If they are worried about this community then who better to police it than those who are in it?" he added. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she believed that rather than targeting Arab Americans broadly, the FBI should focus on religious, educational or charitable organizations suspected of links to terrorists. Diana Walsh reported from San Francisco. / E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com <mailto:zcoile@sfchronicle.com> and Diana Walsh dwalsh@sfchronicle.com <mailto:dwalsh@sfchronicle.com>. Two Conservatives Tell Bush They Oppose Plan for Police New York Times By ERIC SCHMITT June 2, 2002 Two leading conservatives have joined a chorus of police officials and immigrant rights advocates in opposing a Justice Department proposal to allow state and local law enforcement agencies to track down illegal immigrants as a way to fight terrorism. The two conservatives, David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, wrote President Bush on Friday to complain that the plan under review by Attorney General John Ashcroft would set a dangerous precedent by empowering local jurisdictions to enforce many federal laws. "If local police are to enforce our immigration laws, will they soon be required to seek out and apprehend those who violate our environmental laws, or the Americans with Disabilities Act as well?" the letter said. The letter was also signed by Raymond L. Flynn, a former ambassador to the Vatican who now leads the Catholic Alliance, a national Roman Catholic political organization. A White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said that aides had not seen the letter and that it was premature to speculate on the outcome of the Justice Department proposal. If adopted, the proposal would allow local police officers to make arrests for civil violations of immigration law, like overstaying visas. A 1996 opinion by the office of legal counsel at the Justice Department precluded local officers from tracking down illegal i~igrants, and a draft memorandum last November by the same office supported that conclusion. Federal agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service typically handle such cases. Many police departments have voiced concern that the Justice Department proposal would jeopardize their relations with immigrants, who would be less willing to report crimes. The proposal has exposed a rare rift between Justice Department officials and White House aides, who previously have supported Mr. Ashcroft's aggressive efforts to combat terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks. Some White House aides complain that unless modified, the proposal could lead to racial profiling and lawsuits resulting from police abuses, as well as strain relations with Latin American nations and alienate Hispanic voters, whom Republicans are courting for the midterm elections in November. In their letter to Mr. Bush, Mr. Keene, Mr. Norquist and Mr. Flynn wrote that the proposal would strain already overburdened police departments and create unnecessary policies. "This is not just bad policy, it is not really needed," they said. 3 "Mechanisms already exist to foster federal-local cooperation in this area." Barbara Attard Berkeley Police Review Commission Please note that as of 6/19/02 the PRC Offices will be moving to: 1900 Addison Street, Suite 301, Berkeley, CA 94704 Current address: 2121 McKinley Avenue Berkeley, CA 94704 644-6716 f-644-6570 Required age for I.C. search consent remains undetermined By Tom Walsh ~he Gazette IOWA CITY --- lowa City's Police Citizens Review Board can't decide at what age a person is old enough to give police, without a warrant; con- sont to search a household. The fivo-member board failed to reach a consensus on the question earlier this month, leaving in limbo any action the city would take after a com- plaint about a search, City Manager Sieve Atkins said. The issue has been under debate for more than a yem', ever since police entered an apartment on Jan. 27, 2001, and searched it without a wmTant. Police claim the Il-year-old son of the tenant consented to the search. The tenant, who was never identified, filed a complaint with the review board, clahning police entry into her home was illegal. After heartag the complaint, the board ruled police had the right to enter the apartment, but not to seurch it. Atkius subsequently challenged flint finding, requesting more infor- mation about the clrcumshs, nc- es of the search as a Rrst step in revi.ewing Police Department policies and training. Tile board declined Atkins' request, but, at tile request of the City Council, the board scheduled further discussion about the age of consent. The five-member commission was unable to reach consensus after debating it last week. "The board agreed in consul- tation with their legal adviser that the age of 12 as a division point would probably be up- held if challenged in court in most instances," said John Stratton, board chairman, in a Tuesday memo to Atkius. "Two board members believe that age 12 is acceptable; three members feel, however, that the defense of a basic 'constitu- tienal right mandates a higher level of maturity and judgment. The beard concluded that they could not agree on an appropri- ate age level and hence offers no unified recommendation to the council." The Gazette, Fri., April 26, 2002 3B · PCRB vided' over juvenile consent policy By Sara Langenberg . pennimion to search a msi- [owe City Press-Citizen dence. The policy says a 12-year- Iowa City's Police old can grant such consent. Citizens Review Board is The police chief and a city split over the attorney say judges who iOWa Ci~ police depart- have been asked to rule on ment's new such cases have determined j~venile consent policy, that 12 is an accept,~ble age As part of the police at which consent can be department's accreditation granted. process, it ~cently adopted However, in an incident a policy regarding when an last year that occurred prior officer can ask a minor for to the policy's creadon, the PCRB disapproved of an Iowa City police situaUon in which an il-year-old child gave police consent to search his home. The boy's mother filed a complaint with the PCP, B, and some PCRB members questioned an ll-year-old's ability to grant consent. After publicity about the depar~ent's new policy in February, the Iowa City provide some input on the juvenile Consent issue. In a response dated April 23, PCRB chairman John ~StratWn wrote that board members have too many dii- ferent opinions to offer much guidance. ~Fhe board agreed in con- sultation with their legal adviser that the age of 12 as a division point would prob- ably be upheld ff challenged in cou~ in most instance~' Stratton wrote. ~Two board members feel that age 12 is acceptable. Throe members feel, however, that the defense of a basic constim- t/onal right mandates a h/gi~ er level of maturity and judg- ment, age 14 or 18. "The board concluded that they eoald not agree on an appropriate age level hence offers no unified rec- ommendation to the com~- cji," StratWn's memo said. Page 3A Press-Citizen Iowa' City