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Home My WebLink About09-10-2002 ArticlesOCTOBER 31 to NOVEMBER 3, 2002 CAMBRIDGE, MA 02142 Home J History I FAO Membership Application (pdf) Board of Directors I NACOLE Review (pdf) [ New National Conferences I NACOLE Update I Mailing ListI Information & Guidance I U.S. Oversight Agencies I Resources for Oversight I Investigative Guidelines I Varieties of Oversight I Mediation I Board Training I Bias Based Policing The Board of Directors is pleased to announce NACOLE's eighth annual conference to be held from Thursday, October 31, 2002, to Sunday, November 3, 2002, in Cambridge, MA. The conference theme this year is "The Value Of Civilian Oversight: Dollars and Sense." The conference will again bring together dynamic keynote speakers, innovative ideas, challeng- ing panels, and informed discussions among those working in the field of civilian oversight. The conference will be held at the Marriott Cambridge "Kendall Square," known also as the Technology Square, a center of invention. The industrial park is home to Charles Stark Draper Laboratories, Lotus Development Corporation, Camp Dresser & McKee, Spinnaker Software, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and more. The hotel is on the Red Line, providing the conferees easy access to transportation to and from Harvard and Central Square, Boston and other locations. Cambridge is a city of approximately 100,000 residents and thirteen neighborhoods, areas as varied as the people who live there. The city is very diverse and reflecting this is the fact that no less than 60 different languages are spoken by the students who attend the Cambridge Ridge and Latin High Schools. Founded in 1630, Cambridge was originaJly the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and home of the nation's first college, Harvard, established in 1636. Today the city of Cambridge itself is as interesting and diverse as the individuals our academic institutions (and inter- national businesses) attract. Accessibility: The Marriott is two subway stops from downtown Boston or a quick walk over the Longfellow Bridge, minutes away from an incredibly historic and cultural city. The conference attendees will find it very easy to arrive at the hotel whether they are driving or flying. Logan International Airport is located just four miles away, and taxi service is available for approxlmately $16.00-$20.00 one-way. For those more adventurous, $1 will buy a token on the Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority (the "T"), which stops at the Kendall/MIT Red Line "T" stop. For those driving, the hotel is just off the Massachusetts Turnpike or Storrow Drive if you are traveling on 1-93. Entertaimnent: The hotel's ideal location offers the conferees the best of Boston and the flair of Cam- bridge. Attendees can enjoy a scenic stroll along the Charles River or a leisurely walk through one of Boston's many fine museums - the Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium or the Children's Museum. While there, attendees can also visit Boston's many historic sites, including the "Freedom Trail," Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Beacon Hill, the U.S.S. Constitution, and the Boston Tea Party Ship. Finally, right in Cambridge is the world-re- nowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, and just two "T" stops away is the equally famous Harvard University and Harvard Square. We hope that you and your community agency will be present at this year's conference to contribute your ideas on the issues that we all face together. Summer 2002 page 2 [ NACOLE STRIVESTO: Facilitate and involve the community as a true partner in community policing ¢o Provide educational opportunities and technical assistance to existing and emerging organizations that perform civilian oversight of law enforcement Encourage and promote the highest ethical and professional standards in organizations providing civilian oversight of law enforcement ¢o Provide a national forum for exchange of information for agencies that provide civilian oversight of law enforcement BENEFITS OF THE CONFERENCE · Exposure to critical law enforcement issues shaping our future · Opportunities to undertake new roles in civilian oversight nationally and locally · Opportunities to meet and share ideas with leaders in the civilian oversight field · Membership in a fast-growing national network of civilian oversight and law enforcement leaders across the United States · Development of essential skills to involve the community as a partner in community policing · Extensive national dialogue between law enforcement personnel, citizens and civilian oversight practitioners. · Define what communities need to know when establishing a civilian oversight system, changing existing review mechanisms and what accomplishments can be expected in the short and long term in any jurisdiction · Network with city and state agencies to promote civilian oversight and police accountability reform processes · Explain types of resistance used to derail or co-opt any form of civilian oversight system and effective strategies of countering that resistance · Discuss what a community can expect to gain from a functioning civilian review process, and how citizen review agencies are effective in reductions of municipal liability suits WHO SHOULD ATTEND Civilian oversight agency personnel; police commissioners/chiefs; law enforcement agency personnel (sworn and non-sworn); police union representatives; internal affairs staff; social service agencies; federal, state, and local officials; special interest groups; communities interested in creating civilian review boards; volunteers, colleges, universities and students. The general public is also invited. Ipage 3 Summer 2002 ThursdaY, October 31, 2002 6:00- 8:00 p.m. REGISTRATION - Coat room 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. RECEPTION - Salons l-fl Friday, November 1, 2002 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. ADDITIONAL RECiTaTION - Salon IV Foyer 9:00- 10:30 a.m. CONFERENCEINTRODUCTIO~LCOME -Salonsl411 OPENING REMARKS Donald Caslmere, NACOLg Board of Director's and Director Office of Police Accountability City of Sacr~ento, California Bob ~eronson, E~q, Conference C~hatr and NACOLE Board of Director's and Attorney Consultant on Police Account- abgity, ~a]o ~to, California 10:30- 10:45 a.m. REFRESHMENT BRE~ - Salon · Foyer 10:45- 11:45 a.m. KE~OTEADDRESS -Saloml411 "Dolia~ and Sense? How to Get Value from Citizen Revie~ Pro[essor of Law Columbia University Law School ~nd Member o[ ~C Civilian Review Uo~d, New York ~c~m~d: She began her service on New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board in 1994. Mter graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Professor Debra Livingston began her career ~ a law clerk to Judge J. Edward Lumbard on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Before becoming a prolessor, she worked as an ~sistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where she prosecuted public corruption c~es and served as a supervisor of appeals. Professor Livingston began her academic career at University of Michigan Law School in I992. She has taught at Columbia since 1994. Prolessor Livingston h~ authored a casebook on criminal procedure and writes extensively about policing issues. ~2:00 - ~:45 p.m. LUNCHEON SPEAKER- LUNCHEON - Salon N re~o.sm H~s Been P~n Ot me tonds~pe ForA tong rime Sp~*~ n~t~ O'Lo~., Police Ombusdman for No.bern Ireland ~c~d: Ms. O'Loan assumed her position as Northern has received over 5000 inquiries and has conducted numerous investigations, some of which examined police actions before or following terrorist incidents. The fact that both Catholics and Protestants in Northern Summer 2002 page 4 [~ ~P~ t~ ~fi~i~ ~i! ]]~!!~ Ireland respect her work and trust her office speaks to the ~t[~ ~ amount and quality of careful oversight she has prodded ~ ~ since 2000. ~ the oversight community begins to monitor ~ ~ ~ law enforcement agencies with strengthened powers in the f~ ~fliiY. post-Sept. 11 era, we have asked Ms. O'Loan to discuss what ~ii ~SC~ ~ Northern Ireland's experience can teach oversight ~ ~ practitioners in the United States. ~ ~ ~ 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. PLENARY SESSION- Salons I-Ill Nu~ & ~: Limits on Police ~actices WO~fl~ OV~EW~ ~ ~ ~entem: BobAa~nso., Esq. :~UC~ as M~ NACO[E Board of Director's and Attorney Consultant on Police Walker ~ ~i Accountability Palp Mto, California th~ fi~ ~f~[~ 6~ ifi~n~ ~nise ~Fo~st, Esq. Oe.ve Comm . on, ~n(y;S~ri~ ~( an~ ~sistant Attorney General, State of Colorado ~av~:as ~ ~ve Mo~! ~~ 3:15 - 3:30 p.m. R[FR[$H~[~I BR[~- Salon · Foyer 5:00 p.m. FREE [VE~ING 9:00 - ll:O0 p.m. HOSPII~IIYSUIIE i~tlffatib~i ~i~fft~ ~ii~ $~turd~, ~o~ember 2, 2002 PANEL I . Early Warning S~te~ and Data~ses - Salon ltl ~ecutive Officer, San Diego County Law Enforcement Over- ~0s~ ~ ~y. sight, City of San Diego, California PANEL Il. Civil ,ability and Police Oversohb teaming ~,t Civil Suits ~ ~ ~or~ ~. Teach Us. ~to. I.#l d~!~ ~h~ fh~/~at Director, Police Assessment Resource Center, Los ~geles, o:~s- 9:30 a.m. PANEL I- Los Angeles County~ Office of Independent Review: ~esting ~oordi~tj~ ~i~ ~ ~ve~ the Streng~s of a New Model"- ~lon m ~ ~i~ Modemtom: Bob Aaronson, Esq. A~countabi~i~ P~o ~to, California Michael Z Gennaco Chief Attorney, Los ~geles CounW Sheriffs Department, Office of Independent Review, Los Angeles, California !i~ ~ i0 iddi~ii!~i lhi Deputy Chief Attorney, Los ~geles County Sheriff's Depart- ~[!~ ~ ~ ment, Office of Independent Review, Los Angeles, California Ipage5 Summer 2002 Deputy Chief Attorney, Los Angeles County Sher'ff s Depart- merit, Office of Independent Review, Los Angeles, California Ray Jurado Attorney, Los ~geles County Sheriffs Department, Office of Independent Review, Los Angeles, California Attorney, Los ~geles County Sheriff's Department, Office of Independent Renew, Los Angeles, California Stephen J. Connolv Attorney, Los ~geles County Sher'ff s Department, Office of Independent Review, Los Angeles, California 0:a0 PLE VSESS O NACOLE Board of Directors and Independent Police Auditor, City of San Jose, California m~t~ Sp~m: Council Member, City of San Jose, California Merylee Sheltoa Professor and Community Leader, City of San Jose, California v ctor Community Leader, Ci~ o~ San Jose, California Bryan Monroe Deputy Managing Editor, San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, California q :15 - 3:00 p.m. CO~CURRE~T WORKSHOPS Polic~munRyRelagon, -Salon I-II ~ecutive Director, Independent Review Panel, Miami-Dade County, Florida W~hop Il- "Models of Civilian Ove~ight. Making Sense of the Choi~s%' ~ini~ an unde.tandi~ of esMbli~ Modemto~ Barbara A.ard NACOLE ~ecutive Board Member and Berkeley Police Renew Commission Officer, Berkeley, California 3:00 - 3:~ 5 p.m. REFRESHMENT BREAK 5- 5:00 WOR,SHO, Investi~ti~endlnt~viewrechniques - Sa,on III ~ent~: F~nk L. Daley Inspector, Hazard Police Department and Institute of Cantornia Summer 2002 page 6 NACOLE Board of Directors, and Independent Police ~i~iat ~fi ofb~ ~ Peac~ Auditor, City of San Jose, California 5:00 p.m. FREE EVENING 9:30- 11:00 p.m. HOSPITALITY SUITE Sunday, November 3, 2002 ~i 9:00 - 1:00 p.m. W~P-URCONFERENCE EVALUATIONANDSUGGESTIONS- ~nl~ ~me~ {0 ~nd~ -NACOLE ANN UAL MEETING - NACOLE ELECTION D~!O~ U[ili~ng ~!ef b~ ]nv6lve~ l~ ihtet~tiv~ oa~ffihg :: Ipage 7 Summer 2002 HOTEL REGISTRATION FORM MARRIOTT CAMBRIDGE 2 Cambridge Center Cambridge, MA 02142 RESERVATIONS: 1-877-901-2080 OR 1-617-494-6600 Fax: 1-617-494-6565 GUEST ROOM RATES/GROUP RATES: Hotel confirms the following group rates (net of all taxes): Single $135.00 Double $135.00 Hotel room rates are subject to applicable state and local taxes (currently 12.45%) in effect at the time of check in. METHOD OF RESERVATIONS: Reservations for the event will be made by individual attendees directly with Marriott Hotel by calling the number provided above or via the internet (see instructions on page 10). GUARANTEED RESERVATIONS: · :. CUTOFF: October 10, 2002 is the deadline to receive the speeia] rate. Reserve early as the quantity of ranms at the special rate is limited. · :. The rooms are held under the conference name, "NACOLE" block. Pleaze request this name when callinoo. · :' Group rate is available 3 days pre and 3 days post conference based upon availability. · .~oAll reservations must be accompanied by a first night room deposit, or guaranteed with a major credit card. Hotel will not hold any reservations unless secured by one of the above methods. · :. Check-in: 4:00 PM; Check-out: 11:00 PM · ." Express Check-in, Express Check-out available upon request o:o Pet policy: service animals for people with disabilities only 4- Parking available for a fee of $25 overnight rate or $18 for up to 8 hours. 4. All guests are required to present a valid credit card or cash deposit upon registration unless prior credit approval has been obtained from the Hotel. · ,~. Make your reservations online (CODE NACOLE) or use this form and fax to the hotel. CREDIT INFORMATION: CARDHOLDER NAME: TYPE OF C~. CARD NUMBER: EXP. DATE: MASTER CARD INTEl{BANK NUMBER (4) DIGITS): BILLING ADDRESS: Please return this form and one night's deposit to: MARRIOTT CAMBRIDGE 2 Ounbrldge Center Cambridge, MA 02142 Attn.: RESERVATIONS Summer 2002 page Follow these simple steps: % Gotowww. marriott.com % Type in Boston, Massachusetts at Find & Reserue . Click on Find. Click on Reservations for Boston Marriott Cambridge. % Choose Dates for. yourcheck-in andcheckouL % ScroIl Down and enter your assigned 7-letter code in the Group Code box, Click on Check Rates & Availability . % ClickonReseruelt tomakeyourreservation, % Complete the required fields in the online reservation form. ***Please note that a credit card number is required to make reservations. If you attempt to book a reservation that begins prior to the contracted start date, you will receive a message"INVALID ARRIVAL DATE FOR GROUR"If you attempt to make a reservation staying beyond the dates contracted, you will receive a message,"lNPUT END DATE PAST MINI END DATE." You will need to call 877-901-2080 to check on rates and availability for dates before and/or after the confer- ence/event. Since room blocks tend to sell out quickly, we strongly recommend you go ahead and make your reservation for the dates of the conference/event and then call the "800" number to add the extra days. page 9 Summer 2002 Sustaining members are organizations and individuals who wish to make tax deductible contributions to the further the goals and principles of NACOLE. Donations begin at $500. Organizational members are agencies of board who provide civilian oversight of law enforcement by legislative or executive mandate. These agencies will receive one transferable regular membership and associate memberships for the remain- ing members of their boards. Annual dues: $300 Regular members are individuals who are not sworn law enforcement officers but who work or have worked for agencies that are mandated by legislative or execu- tive authority to investigate and review complaints against law enforcement officers. Annual dues: $150. Associate members are individuals concerned with the oversight of iaw enforce- ment. The members shall be able to participate in all NACOLE activities, includ- ing servlng on committees, but are ineligible to vote or serve as officers. Annual dues: $100. Student members are individuals who are full-time students and are concerned with the oversight of law enforcement. Student members will be able to serve on committees but are ineligible to vote or serve as officers. Annual dues: $25. All memberships include a one-year subscription to the NACOLE Review. (over) Summer 2002 page 101 Name Title Organization address Home address Home telephone (with area code) Home e-mail Home fax Organization or com- Organization telephone City, State, Zip City, State, Zip Organization fax Organization e-mail Membership type Make checks payable to NACOLE Mail form and payment to: NACOLE P. O. Box 19261 Denver, Colorado 80219 Please call or e-mail if you have questions phone: 1-866-4NACOLE e-mail: nacole@nacole.org Summer 2002 page 11 I The NACOLE Review is published twice a year for the members of NACOLE. National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement R O. Box 19261 Denver, Colorado 80219 1-866-4NACOLE · Fax (303) 256-5491 E-mail: nacole@nacole.org or contact the NACOLE board at http://www, nacole.or9 Editor-in-Chief.' Malvino Monteiro, monteiro@nacole.org Editor: Suzanne Egbert, segbert@yahoo.com © 2002 NACOLE, Inc. All rights reserved. National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement R O. Box 19261 Denver, Colorado 80219 first c/ass marl NACOLE 2002 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM Title/Agency: Address: City: State/Zip: Telephone: Emaih EARLY REGISTRATION (by October 10, 2002) $275 Regular Member - early registration/before October 10, 2002 $325 Regular Member - late registration/after October 10, 2002 $375 Non-Member- early registration/before October 10, 2002 $425 Non-Member - late registration/after October 10, 2002 Agencies with Organizational Memberships can register each staff and Board member at the $275/$325 rate. Amount Enclosed $ Please make checks payable to NACOLE and mall it to: P. O. Box 19261 Denver, CO 80219 FAX: 303-256-5491 Date postmarked Date paid Received by O Cash D Check Check No. Member Status Registration Status ~1 Early ~Late No refund for cancellation after October 10, 2002 For office use only Travel arrangement must be done early and through your local travel agency or any major airline carrier. Summer 2002 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 10:34 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Charges Against SF Officers in Death of 17 Yr Old Saturday July 06 04:34 PM EDT Charges Against SF Officers in Death of 17 Year Old Girl By Sue McGuire for KCBS-740 AM(KCBS)-The death of a 17 year old girl four years ago has led to charges being filed against two San Francisco police officers. Police Chief Fred Lau says the charges include firing a service weapon without justification and misrepresenting the truth about the shooting. The charges were filed with the Police Commission involving Sgt. Gregory Breslin and Insepctor James Zerga in connection with the death of Sheila Detoy. Detoy was a passenger in a vehicle with two other men when officers moved in to arrest one of the men on a felony warrant. The vehicle didn't stop and officers opened fire. A bullet from Braslin's gun struck Detoy in the head. The Police Department claimed that Breslin fired when he thought he was about to be run over by the suspect's vehicle but witness statements contradicted that. The Chief filed the charges under pressure from the Office of Citizen Compraints and the Police Commission. The Police Commission will hold hearings on the charges in the coming months. Two other officers may face charges too. (San Francisco Chronicle) 7/10/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, Jury 09, 2002 10:56 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] SFran Chief Quits S.F. police chief quits to take U.S. airport job Lau 'lst Asian American to run department Jaxon Van Derbeken, Alan Gathright, !!ene Le!chuk, Chron!cle Staff Writers _ Friday, June 21, 2002 San Francisco - With the department he has led for six years at a crossroads, San Francisco Police Chief Fred Lau announced Thursday that he is retiring from the fome to take an airport security job with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Lau, whose last day with the San Francisco Police Department will be July 13, is expected to get the new job of head of security at Oakland International Airport under the federal Transportation Security Administration, which is taking over passenger and baggage screening at U.S. airports. No official assignment has been made, however. The agency "wants (Lau). And he doesn't want to move from the Bay Area," said a Transportation Security Administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The chief tried to get the same post at San Francisco International Airport earlier this year but lost out. Lau, who will turn 53 next week, became the Police Department's first Asian American chief when Mayor Willie Brown appointed him soon after taking office in January 1996. Lau has earned praise at the head of the 2,200-officer force for implementing community policing and strengthening neighborhood patrols. Most recently, Lau helped the department through the loss of a rookie officer killed in a crash of two squad cars as well as the deaths of an officer's wife and son in a head-on crash. However, Lau also reaves the department under a cloud after The Chronicle published a series of articles last month showing that the Police Department ranked last in the nation among big-city departments in solving violent crime. Lau will be repraced next month, at least in the interim, by Assistant Chief Ear[ Sanders. Sanders, a 38-year veteran who worked his way up from walking a beat and spent many years as a homicide inspector, has frequently been mentioned as a possible successor to Lau. Should Brown make him chief, Sanders would be the first African American to head the department. "He is a very fine man," Sanders said of Lau. "We were good partners - we were a team. We've done some things in the department that were very positive." He cited the domestic violence and hate crimes units among Lau's successes, first as head of the Bureau of Inspectors and then as chief. Brown, who is in the midst of negotiations to eliminate a $175 million budget deficit, said it was too soon to name Lau's permanent successor. "1 have not thought about it, frankly," he said. Lau's retirement was announced in a news release from the department. Lau could not be reached for comment. He will receive a $130,000 yearly pension for his 31 years in the department in addition to his federal salary of as much as $150,000. Brown offered congratulations to Lau but said he is disappointed by his departure. "1 don't have any complaint from any citizen of this city about the conduct of the Police Department in terms of its relationships with the folks of this city," Brown said. "1 don't have any complaints from people of this city about feeling anything other than safer." CRIME RATE HAS DROPPED Lau's effectiveness is shown by the drop in the city's crime rate and a recent decline in gang-related homicides in the Bayview-Hunters Point, Brown said. Lau has called The Chronicle series on the department's problems with solving violent crimes unfair, although he also said it was a "wake-up call" for the department. The mayor said he awaits a formal analysis of Police Department data before making any pronouncements on what, if anything, needs to be done. "The only regret that Chief Lau may have is that he wouldn't be there to address the issues that were brought up by The Chronicle articles in his tenure," said Sgt. Reno Rapagnani, the chief's legal adviser. "He really, really did want to cleah it up." The Chronicle found that the department made no attempt to investigate 7 out of 10 robberies and assaults, merely stamping the repods "inactive" and boxing them. The department selected homicide investigators based on their position on a waiting list, with no regard to their ability or accomplishments, the series found. POLICE COMMISSION SESSION Lau is set to update the Police Commission on Wednesday about his 30-day plan to respond to the articles. Victor Makras, a police commissioner, said he looks forward to hearing what Lau has to say. "1 am very open minded to his recommendations, and I'm prepared to question that plan to assure a better closure rate," Makras said. Makras, a newcomer to the commission, said the time was probably right for Lau to move on. "He's looking for a change -- I'm always happy for people to get what they want," Makras said. "When someone looks for another job, obviously, your heart's not in the job you have." Chris Cunnie, head of the Police Officers Association, said Lau's departure, while not a surprise, comes at an emotional time for the rome because of the recent tragedies. "We have had a good relationship for six years," CunnJe said. "But we'll carry on -- the rank-and-file cop, men and women on the street, will continue to do their job tonight, like they did last night." Cunnie said Lau oversaw a period when crime dropped to an all-time Iow and the police ranks diversified to the point where federal government oversight of the department was withdrawn. "He will be remembered for a lot of positive things by the rank-and-file cop," Cunnie said. As the San Francisco Police Department 7/10/02 Page 2 of 2 prepares for the transition, so does Oakland International Airport. "We have heard rumors that he's coming to Oakland International for several weeks now but no confirmation," said airport spokeswoman Jo Murray. LOST OUT ON SFO JOB In May, Lau was edged out for the federal security chief job at San Francisco International Airport by Ed Gomazl a former veteran California Highway Patrol commander in Los Angeles. A federal airport security director oversees all security operations, including risk assessments, training and supervision of new federal passenger and baggage screeners, police officers and installation of weapons-detection equipment. The director also creates and orchestrates the airport's security crisis response plan. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has said he wants "battle-tested" security chiefs, and the jobs have often gone to former generals, Secret Service agents, big-city police chiefs and admirals. Should Lau be named to the Oakland job, the only top security job unfilled in the Bay Area would be at Mineta San Jose International Airport. An official there said the post is expected to be filled within a month. 7/10/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 10:57 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA Area Officer Relieved of Duty in Inglewood Beating Caught on Tape http://www,latimes.com/news/Ioca!/la-me-bea[mg9ju!09, story?co!!=!a%2 Dhead!ines%2 Dca!ifornia Officer Relieved of Duty in Inglewood Beating Violence: The three-year veteran was videotaped during incident at gas station with 16- year-old. Airing of tape on TV prompts investigations. By RICHARD WINTON and NORA ZAMICHOW LA Times Staff Writers July 9 2002 An Inglewood police officer was relieved of duty Monday after television broadcast a videotape of him lifting a limp, handcuffed teenager by his clothes, smashing his head on a car trunk and then punching him in the face. An attorney for Donovan Jackson, 16, described the slender youth as particularly vulnerable, saying that he is developmentally handicapped, a special education student who has no arrest record and who did not understand what was happening. While Jackson paid for fuel at an Inglewood gas station, two sheriff's deputies approached his father Saturday evening about the expired license plates on his 1997 Ford Taurus. Jackson returned to the car, and the two deputies ordered him to drop the potato chips he was eating and to put his hands on the vehicle, said Jackson's lawyer, Joe Hopkins. A struggle ensued. Jackson's family says the boy did not provoke the scuffle. Law enforcement officers say he was combative. Hopkins and Jackson's family members say race was a factor in the encounter, that Jackson's father was questioned because he is African American. Sheriffs Deputy Steve Jauch said race was irrelevant: "Race had nothing to do with the stop. We are prohib, ited from stopping people based on race." The videotape aired on television, shot by a bystander, shows a portion of the event. In a rawness reminiscent of the 1991 Rodney King beating, it captures an Inglewood police officer slamming the teen onto the police car and then striking him with a closed fist. The FBI and Los Angeles County district attorney's office have opened investigations into the fray. The Inglewood officer, Jeremy Morse, a three-year veteran of the Inglewood Police Department, will continue receiving pay while his department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also launch separate investigations, said law enfomement officials. "The incident is being taken very seriously," said Lt. Eve Irvine, spokeswoman for the Inglewood police. Images from the gas station's surveillance camera will be reviewed to determine what happened, Irvine said. The boy and three law enforcement officers were treated and released Saturday from a local hospital. The boy's right eye was bloodied and his throat bruised after he was choked with a chain he wore, his attorney said. Morse suffered cuts on his knee, elbow and ear, Irvine said. Jackson was booked on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, and was later released. "We want this police officer fired and prosecuted," said Najee Ali of Project Islamic HOPE, a community activist group. "This is another Rodney King beating; it's not a matter of race, it's a matter of police culture." Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn called the footage "very disturbing." But "it doesn't resemble Rodney King," he said, "because you don't have four or five officers beating this one young man. What I saw was one officer .... The only concern I have at this point is to see justice is done. One officer's conduct is not 7/10/02 Page 2 of 3 going to destroy this city." After viewing the videotape, attorney Thomas E. Beck, many of whose clients claimed to be victims of police abuse, said, "The officer was being physically and unnecessarily abusive to that boy. There's no amount of fact that would justify what the officer did." The videotape was shot by Mitchell Crooks, a 27-year-old DJ staying in a nearby hotel while he waited to switch apartments after returning from vacation. Hearing a woman screaming about someone being beaten, Crooks ran outside with his video camera. He said he was not shocked by what he saw and did not realize what a stir the videotape would cause. "1 just thought it was standard procedure; I thought it was normal in Los Angeles," said Crooks. "1 didn't think it was any big deal at all." On Monday, Neilson Williams, 32, said Morse and other officers handcuffed him and beat him with batons and hands near Ashwood Park on June 23. Williams said the officers gave no explanation for stopping him. Williams said he filed a formal complaint with the Inglewood Police Department. Inglewood police, contacted late Monday, said they had not had a chance to confirm that Williams had filed a complaint. Sheriffis deputies on Monday offered the following account of Saturday's incident at the gas station. It began shortly after 5 p.m., said Lt. Carl Deeley, when two deputies, Carlos Lopez and Daniel Leon, noticed that Jackson's father, Coby Chavis Jr., 41, had expired registration tags, and pulled behind him as he entered the station. As the deputies began talking to Chavis, who lives in Inglewood, his son went into the mini-mart. He came out and began arguing with them, Deeley said. The deputies tried to calm the son, telling him that they were just going to talk to his father about the expired registration. The boy kept arguing, Deeley said. So Lopez, who has been with the department seven years, told him to sit in the back seat of the patrol car while they investigated the vehicle violations, Deeley said. But the boy protested and lunged at Lopez, Deeley said. Two patrol units from Inglewood Police Department pulled up and intervened. They saw the two struggling and attempted to help handcuff the boy, Deeley said. Four Inglewood police officers approached. This group included Morse, and three others: Mariano Salcedo, an eight-year veteran and training officer, Antoine Crook, who has been on the force one year, and Bijan Darvish, a veteran of two years. Asked whether officers used excessive force, Irvine said, "I'm certainly not saying it was justified at this time. It's too premature to say." Jackson, Chavis and another witness recounted the episode differently: Jackson stood upright when he spotted four Inglewood police officers approaching, said his father. These officers, said Chavis, "began beating him [Jackson] in the face." Chavis said his son was hit repeatedly and slammed into the pavement by an officer. At one point, Chavis said, an officer knelt with his knee on his son's back. Chavis said his son was hit by an officer with a closed fist and then dragged by the 18-inch silver chain that he wore around his neck. The officers, said Chavis, lifted the boy by the chain, which broke. The boy then fell to the ground. "They were choking me," said Jackson, in a barely audible whisper. Police declined to discuss the incident in detail. Chavis said he tried to intervene on his son's behalf but was restrained. Chavis said he heard one officer call him by a racial slur. Another witness, Andres Mejia, 24, of Inglewood, said, "We didn't understand why they were doing this." 7/10/02 Page 3 of 3 Mejia said he also saw police throw the youth on the ground, and an officer kneeling on his back. He said he saw an officer punch Jackson with a closed fist. Mejia said he watched the incident unfold in broad daylight 20 feet away. Mejia said he never saw the youth offer any resistance. "It did just seem vengeful and racist," said Mejia. Jackson's attorney, Hopkins, says his client's "only crime was paying for gas at the wrong time on the wrong day." 7/10/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 6 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 1:25 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA Deputy's Account Of Inglewood Beating; Experts Respond; Commentary http//www,!atimes,com/news/Iocal/la-me-ing lewood 10jul 10005053.story?coll=!a%2 D headlines%2 Dcalifomia Deputy's Report Offers Account of Beating Inglewood: Protesters at City Hall decry brutality. Mayor says the teen's civil rights were violated. By BETH SHUSTER and NORA ZAMICHOW LA TIMES STAFF WRITERS July 10 2002 The official account of the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old Inglewood boy describes an increasingly tense situation in which officers repeatedly gave orders to the boy, only to be met by what they perceived as resistance. "1 asked him to place his hands on the roof," wrote Sheriff's Deputy Carlos Lopez in his report, a copy of which was shared with The Times on Tuesday. "He didn't respond and continued to stare at me." But a family member said Donovan Jackson suffers from a speech impediment and a hearing disability that prevents him from responding promptly. "You tell him something, and he doesn't get it right then," said his cousin Talibah Shakir, a sixth-grade teacher in Los Angeles. "He's slow to react." Anger over the images of a white police officer striking Jackson, who is black, reached a boiling point in Inglewood, a city of 113,000 people. Protesters surged into the mayor's office Tuesday and demanded a meeting. Shadowed by Inglewood police-whose chief, Ronald Banks, was on vacation-the activists chanted: "Handcuff them! Handcuff them!" Mayor Roosevelt Dom confronted the 100 or so protesters who made their way to his office and echoed their denunciation of the beating. Dorn described the incident, in which at least one officer struck the handcuffed boy, as a "felony assault" and called for the officer to be fired and prosecuted. "1 can't think of anything this teenager could have done that would justify the conduct that I observed on the video," said Dom, who served 18 years as a judge. "This young man's civil rights without question were violated." Dorn said it appeared to him that, in addition to felony assault, the officer was guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, battery and child abuse. The officer, Jeremy J. Morse, was relieved of duty Monday. The incident occurred Saturday, after two Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies approached Jackson's father, Coby Chavis Jr., at an Inglewood gas station. The deputies were investigating Chavis' expired license tags--Chavis says he was singled out because he is black, a charge the Sheriff's Department denies. As they questioned Chavis, Jackson emerged from the gas station store with potato chips, and a scuffle broke out, partially captured on videotape by a bystander. Jackson was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest and interfering with a police officer. He was treated for his injuries and released. Inglewood police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have opened investigations into the incident. The FBI and Los Angeles County district attorney's office have also begun separate investigations. But the flurry of law enforcement response did not placate those angered by the televised images of Morse slamming Jackson into a police cruiser and then striking him. Since the incident was first televised, Inglewood police have been deluged by calls, and protesters insisted Tuesday that no provocation could have justified the police actions against Jackson. 7/10/02 Page 2 of 6 Dorn agreed. "If this teenager had spit in their face, called them all kinds of names, kicked them, attacked, once he was subdued, once he was handcuffed, he was picked up, he should have been taken to the car, not slammed face-down on the hood of a car." Some protesters remained skeptical that significant action would be taken. "VVhat happened to the dudes who beat Rodney King? Not much," said Corey Stevens, 30. The sheriffs version of the incident, the official account of the arrest, was disclosed for the first time Tuesday. Written before the videotape became public, it portrays a series of events in which authorities, not knowing that Jackson suffered from a disability, appear to have grown agitated by his refusal to heed their instructions. According to a report written Saturday night by Lopez, the sheriff's deputy, Jackson attempted to get back to his father's car when he returned from the gas station store. Lopez asked him not to get into the car, and the boy turned and looked at the deputy "with an angered expression on his face....He was breathing hard." Lopez told him to wait while the deputies investigated the vehicle violations, but the boy kept "intently staring" at the deputy. He put his hand in his left pocket, the report said, and appeared "to manipulate something" in his pocket. The deputy then asked him whether he had anything in his pocket, but the boy ignored him, the report said. He asked a second time, and Jackson ignored him. Lopez decided to pat him down for weapons, and the boy's body became rigid, the report said. He asked Jackson to sit in the patrol car. 'I opened the right rear door and ordered him to sit down, he tensed his body and did not comply," Lopez wrote. At that point, the Inglewood police officers pulled up into the gas station parking lot. Lopez wrote that he repeatedly ordered Jackson to get into the car, and it appeared Jackson was going to comply. But he didn't, and instead moved toward the deputy, Lopez wrote. "He lunged at me, raising his hands in front of him," the report said. Lopez then "took him to the ground" and struggled to place handcuffs on the boy's wrists. Jackson refused numerous commands to lie face-down on the ground and kept his body sideways, the report said. "During the altercation, the suspect pulled, scratched and fought with the deputies and the officers," the report said. Jackson's behavior at the scene, according to his family, is explainable by his condition. They say that Jackson never resisted officers and that the police attacked the boy. According to his cousin Shakir and the family lawyer, Joe Hopkins, Jackson's disability makes it especially difficult for him to process more than one command at a time. Shakir said the family plans to file a lawsuit against the Inglewood Police Department today. In his report, Lopez does not say whether he or other officers questioned Jackson's ability to understand them. He also never mentions that Morse struck the boy. Sheriff's officials say the deputies will be interviewed today by department investigators. They say a number of questions remain. Among them: Did the deputies see the altercation between the boy and the Inglewood officers? If so, what obligation did they have to report it? Despite the omission of details about Morse's involvement, Undersheriff Bill Stonich said he did not see anything in the videotape that would lead him to believe the deputies did anything wrong. have not seen ... any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of our deputies," Stonich said. Faced with the condemnation of Inglewood's mayor and angry community reactions to the incident, some of Morse's colleagues defended the officer, who remained out of public view. The videotape excerpt of a single arrest, they said, should not be allowed to define Morse's three-year career. 7/10/02 Page 3 of 6 Der. Nell Murray, president of the Inglewood Police Officers Assn., described Morse as a solid and dedicated cop, firmly committed to his job and the community. Morse began his police career with the Inglewood department, where he is respected by other officers, and has done a good job, Murray said. "His reputation is a solid one. Those who have worked with Jeremy have always been impressed with his level of professional police work," he said. Department officials refused to disclose any history of commendations or disciplinary actions, saying they were confidential. And many police officers refused to speak about Morse's background or personal life, citing the numerous investigations. Morse was a patrol cop, usually teamed with a partner while working in different areas of the city. On Saturday night, Morse was one of four Inglewood police officers at the scene. Morse and Bijan Darvish are white, Mariano Salcedo a Latino officer and Antoine Crook an African American. In a 2000 case, Morse was among officers accused of assaulting a suspect. The case was dismissed, however, when the plaintiff failed to appear in court. J. Mitchell Steinbrecher, owner of Citicopters News Service, a freelance news video agency, said he filed a complaint against Morse and two other Inglewood officers after a run-in on April 26, 2001, in which Morse allegedly cursed and threatened him. And last month, 32-year-old Neilson Williams accused Morse and others of handcuffing him and beating him with batons near Ashwood Park. "The police pulled up, and they just went wild," he said. "They rolled up on me like I had robbed a bank or something." Williams said he spent five days in the hospital, including three in the intensive care unit. Williams has filed a complaint with the Inglewood Police Department. Inglewood Police Lt. Alex Perez confirmed the department had received a formal complaint from Williams, but declined to elaborate. Jackson and his father returned home Tuesday evening, acknowledging reporters as they entered the house. They declined to comment. Jackson has begun to feel unsafe in his Inglewood home, Shakir said. According to her, Jackson believes that police will return and try to punish him because the videotape has caused so much trouble. "This is a really good kid-no drugs, doesn't cuss," said Shakir. "He doesn't understand why this was done to him." Times staff writers Daren Briscoe, Anna Gorman, Liz F. Kay, Jill Leovy, Richard Marosi and Richard Winton contributed to this report. ~ttp;~ ,~t!~`c~m~r~c~:~u~s1~ju~1~,st~ry?c~=~a%2Dhead~ines%2Dca~if~rnia Experts Approach With Caution Police: Many say context is important in judging whether excessive force was used in incident. By JILL LEOVY and STEVE BERRY LA TIMES STAFF WRITERS July 10 2002 Trying to esolve whether off cers act ons were jusbf ed-the quest on now before investigators in the case of a controversial police incident in Inglewood on Saturday-is one of the murkier areas of police discipline. There are guidelines, but there is no precise blueprint for how police should use force. What's required varies with the situation. 7/10/02 Page 4 of 6 Generally, police are authorized to use force, even deadly fome, in defense of themselves or others. Judging whether excessive force was used is the key to cases of alleged brutality. A number of experts were cautious in trying to assess the Saturday episode, which was partly videotaped by a witness. Mindful of past cases like the Rodney King beating, in which key elements of the event were not caught on tape, they were quick to point out that not all the facts about the Inglewood case are known. "When you see a portion of an incident, it is important to know total context of incident from beginning to end," said Bob Stresak, a senior consultant with the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training. "What initiated the stop? What knowledge were the officers armed with? What type of area was it--a high crime area? Was this initiated by suspect description related to a serious felony? All those components need to be taken into account" when evaluating use of force, he said. Jim Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police, said there should be no rush to judgment because "a lot of things happened before that videotape started rolling." But many police officers were uneasy with what they, and millions of television viewers, saw on the videotape: images of police slamming a limp, handcuffed teen-ager onto a car and then punching him in the face. In particular, striking someone who has already been handcuffed, in most cases, violates "a cardinal rule" of use of force, said Greg Berg, a retired LAPD commander who is now director of community and safety services for Cerritos. "When someone is handcuffed, everything is finished at that point." Inglewood police officials say 16-year-old Donovan Jackson, whom his lawyer describes as developmentally disabled, became violent before the videotape begins. But Saturday's incident, and the unusual videotaping, was enough to nudge some police officials out of their usual reticence to pass judgment on fellow officers. "You only apply fome when there is something the rome is going to accomplish," said LAPD Deputy Chief David C. Doan. "It's clearly a policy of ours: Just like we don't shoot moving cars, we don't hit handcuffed suspects," said C~ndr. Jim McMurray, head of LAPD internal affairs. "You use whatever force is appropriate to get ia suspect] to stop resisting .... Then once a person stops resisting, you stop using force." There are exceptions, officers said. If a suspect is still violent while in handcuffs, officers are justified in continuing to use force. A number of police officials told of suspects who spit, bite or kick while handcuffed, sometimes violently enough to smash the windows of patrol cars. But officers have tools to control a suspect without throwing punches, they said. Even if an officer had been hit by the suspect, said D.P. Van Blaricom, a use-of-force expert and former chief of the Bellevue, Wash., Police Department, he or she has no right to strike back when the suspect is handcuffed and not resisting. 'Tva been hit, bit and spit on," he said. "That's part of the job. Once you have the person in custody, you don't get to inflict summary punishment on them." The videotape repeatedly played on local television news stations quickly became the talk of law enforcement-especially in the LAPD, which has a history of high-profile use-of-force incidents dating back decades. Examples of suspects being beaten or harmed while handcuffed or restrained are immortalized in the Christopher Commission report, an exhaustive examination of the King beating in 1991. LAPD training commander George Gascon said the videotape even hit a sour note with a group of new LAPD recruits who had seen the videotape, and discussed it among themselves. "They were disturbed," he said. Only a few years after being subjected to thorough scrutiny in the wake of the King beating, the LAPD was rattled by a second, high-profile scandal involving brutality when revelations of corruption in the agency's Rampart Division surfaced. The department has undergone elaborate and expensive changes since then, adding new audit departments, raking in complaints and attempting to crack down on officers who conceal wrongdoing. But a fail-safe formula to prevent officer misconduct has yet to be found. Training is not enough to prevent misconduct, LAPD Capt. Sergio Diaz said. "It takes action on a lot of different fronts. You have to set the tone, in all your communications with subordinates.... You take complaints very seriously, you let officers know they are not allowed to cover up serious misconduct." 7/10/02 Page 5 of 6 _Commentary_7 10 -2 LATimes Steve Lppez: Police Culture of Silence Meets the Roar of an Angry Crowd At last count, we had several investigations in the works, including one by Inglewood police and one by the L.A. County Sheriff. But I saw the videotape, and I can save everyone some time. There is nothing to investigate. Yes, I know. We aren't sure what, if anything, 16-year-old Donovan Jackson might have done to provoke officers during a traffic stop Saturday. But it doesn't matter. You do not take a juvenile, cuff his hands behind him, slam his head onto the hood of a car, and then sucker punch him in the face. Not unless you're trying out for the World Wrestling Federation. My feelings were shared by 100-plus demonstrators who showed up at Inglewood City Hall Tuesday morning to demand that the mayor, the chief of police-anybody-stand up and say that Officer Jeremy Morse should not just be fired, but prosecuted. As it is, Morse has merely been suspended, with pay. The guy establishes himself as one of the great sissies of all time, roughing up a handcuffed kid, and he's getting paid to sit at home. For the record, police say Jackson became combative after they followed his father's car into a gas station to ask about a lapsed registration. The story from the other side is that Jackson is developmentally disabled and became confused after returning to the car with a bag of potato chips. His father and attorney say he was punched by police and then dragged by a silver chain he wore around his neck. Morse, by the way, is white, and Jackson is black. But one of the cops at the scene was black and one brown, and Najee Ali, a black man who organized the demonstration, told me the issue isn't race. The issue is a police culture in which it's OK to beat the living daylights out of people in primarily minority neighborhoods. I asked a Los Angeles secretary named Sherri Mayes what specifically motivated her to take a day off work, and join the demonstration on a blazing hot day, and the answer came up into her eyes and smoldered there. "Anger." Mayes watched the video in horror, then told her 6-year-old son it isn't supposed to be like that. But this was no isolated incident, she claimed. What makes it different was that it was caught on videotape. Look, the truth is that most cops don't go around beating people up. The problem is that you can't find any cops who'll report the ones who do. Before we congratulate Inglewood police for calling the incident disturbing and immediately suspending the officer, do you think we would have heard about this case if not for the videotape? Would any of the officers at the scene have blown the whistle on one of their own? My money says no. Why else would Morse have had no qualms about brazenly clocking a restrained juvenile in the presence of fellow officers? During the demonstration, I wandered up to two Inglewood detectives and asked if they could imagine any circumstances under which Morse acted appropriately. "There's two sides to every story," said one. rest my case. I slipped away from the demonstration for a scheduled meeting with Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dom in his ninth-floor office. But before we could sit down, the demonstrators poured out of the elevators behind me and pressed toward Dorn's office, demanding a meeting. Someone called police, who drew scowls, and one demonstrator chided, "Here come the beaters." "No justice, no peace? the crowd chanted as Najee Ali told city officials that nobody was leaving until the mayor appeared. 7/10/02 Page 6 of 6 (Ali, by the way, told me that New York Rev. Al Sharpton had called to say he'll be hero for a Friday demonstration. Good for Reverend Al, but if you ask me, it's a sad commentary on the void in leadership in Southern California. We shouldn't need an outsider showing us how to shake a stick.) In his moment of truth, Mayor Dom appearod beforo a restless mob and got offto a terrible start by saying he would recommend suspension without pay. One man in the crowd shouted down the mayor and began jawing with a guy who implored him to let the mayor continue. And then Dom, a former prosecutor and judge, hit his stride. He had already watched the video enough times to conclude that whatever happened before the camera began rolling, it did not justify the assault on Jackson. And so the mayor said the investigation of Morse will proceed, "but it is my opinion that he should be fired." There was moro, too. Dom wanted him brought up on charges. "No. 1, for felony assault. No. 2, assault with a deadly weapon--the car. And No. 3, battery. In my city, this type of conduct will not be tolerated." The mayor and I then came face-to-face in a crowded elevator, and he told me he's looking into whether he can cut off the suspended officer's pay. Perspiration beaded on his face, and there's more of that to come, but he'd made a cool recovery on a day when the heat closed in around him early. 7/10/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 1:26 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Former Prosecutor FIo Finkle To Head NY CCRB Former Prosecutor To Head CCRB By ALICE McQUILLAN NY Daily News Police Bureau ~ former Manhattan prosecutor who won convictions against corrupt cops will be publicly named today as director of the civilian agency that investigates police misconduct. Florence Finkle, 40, becomes the first woman to head the Civilian Complaint Review Board since it became independent from the Police Department nine years ago. Florence Finkle has been tabbed to lead the Civilian Complaint Review Board. "It's hard for me to understand this, but people tell me that I can be abrasive and a bit harsh personally, because I'm very demanding. I'm a perfectionist," Finkle said. As a Manhattan prosecutor, she won perjury convictions against three police officers snared in the drug-selling scandal at Harlem's 30th Precinct. She says she has a soft side, which was on display in a national magazine. Her mother, sister, childhood friend, college buddy and former co-worker talked to Glamour magazine in 1998 about Finkle's eventual acceptance of being lesbian. In the article, Finkle recalled her struggle and happiness. "1 think that people saw a different side of me in that article, and I think that had a positive effect on how people saw me at the agency," she said. Finkle joined the CCRB in 1996 to head its investigative unit. Now she's running the agency at a crucial time. The city is fighting, over police union opposition, to give the CCRB expanded power to prosecute cases. With its budget doubled and staff increased since the police torture of Abner Louima, the CCRB is managing its caseload better. However, it's still under fire for substantiating only about 7% to 12% of complaints. 7/10/02 Page 2 of 2 "Right now, the agency substantiates far too few complaints, as compared to CCRBs elsewhere," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. From 1994, its first full year as an independent agency, until last month, seven cops were fired because of a civilian complaint. Of the 40,798 civilian complaints filed in the last nine years, about half were thrown out and 1,246 cops were disciplined. Finkle said that anyone filing a complaint must undergo cross-examination and that nobody's word is taken as truth. Often, cases are thrown out because people become frustrated and stop cooperating, she said. It's a process, she said, that pleases neither side. 7/10/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: legalise_freedom [legalise_freedom@yahoo.com] Wednesday, July 10, 2002 9:36 PM legalise_freedom@yahoogroups.com [legalise_freedom] Former Key West Cops Won?t Go On Trial ........................ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ....................... > Free $5 Love Reading Risk Free[ http://us.click.yahoo.com/TPvn8A/PfREAA/Ey. GAA/FZTolB/TM Key West Civilian Review Board advocates - A Public Forum Newsletter 1) Former Key West Cops Won't Go On Trial 2) Beerbower Serving Suspension In Chunks 3) Where To Sign The Petition For a Citizens Police Review Board 4) Citizen Police Review Board: What's the Deal? - Part I 5) Citizen Police Review Board: What's the Deal? - Part II 1) Former Key West Cops Won't Go On Trial The following article is reprinted in its entirety. It was published as a front page article July 4, 2002 by "The Key West Citizen" and was written by Tom Walker: Saunders, Harris, charged with misconduct, accept deal from state A pair of former Key West police officers, facing criminal charges for allegedly falsifying arrest affidavits in connection with a July 2000 brawl outside an Old Town Bar, will not be going to trial. Patrick Saunders, 27, and Geoffery Harris, 24, agreed on June 26 to accept pretrial intervention to avoid prosecution, Catherine Vogel of the Monroe County State Attorney's Office said Wednesday. "The pretrial intervention program is a diversion program typically offered to first time offenders in lieu of prosecution," she said. Terms of the program require Saunders and Harris to demonstrate they have successfully completed a police report writing course and either pay for investigative costs or complete 20 hours of community service. Saunders, a fire marshal with the Division of Insurance, and Harris, a Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputy, voluntarily turned themselves in to the Monroe County Detention Center in May after warrants were issued, charging them each with two counts of official misconduct. If convicted of the felonies, the pair could have faced up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine on each count. In July 29, 2000, four people were arrested and charged with affray after words were exchanged between a patron in Sloppy Joe's Bar, 201 Duval St., and a family of tourists waking by. In the arrest affidavits, Saunders and Harris reportedly indicated all four individuals were fighting. However, the officers reportedly told investigators at a later time that they could not remember the details. The state's case grew stronger against Saunders and Harris after four other officers told investigators they "did not see any of the defendants fighting." Saunders and Harris were two of five officers caught up in a probe by the state attorney, made public in February, into allegations of misconduct and brutality by some members of the Key West Police Department. As a result of that investigation, police Lt. A1 Flowers agreed to resign to avoid being charged with official misconduct and patrol officer Michael Beerbower, facing charges of battery, agreed to a deal with the state to avoid prosecution. One additional patrol officer is reportedly negotiating a similar agreement to avoid a single charge of misdemeanor battery. To contact the author of this article send e-mail to: Tom Walker -- twalker@keysnews.com To send your letter to the editor at the Key West Citizen: Editor Tom Tuell 3420 Northside Drive Key West, Florida, 33040 (305) 292-7777 e-mail: info@keysnews.com 2) Beerbower Serving Suspension In Chunks The following article is reprinted in its entirety. It was published on June 28, 2001 by "Key West The Newspaper": Last month, Key West Police Officer Michael Beerbower avoided going on trial for allegedly battering a handcuffed suspect by agreeing to probation and a o~e-month suspension without pay. Apparently, that deal has been interpreted by the Key West Police Department as 20 days without pay - and Beerbower is serving the "time" in pieces, rather than all at once. He has been, or will be, suspended on the following days: May 14, 15, 16, 17, 28, 29, 30, 31, June 10, 14, 15, 16, 24, 28, 29, 30, and July 9, 10, 11, 12. To contact Key West The Newspaper for confirmation: Editor/Publisher: Dennis Reeves Cooper, Ph.D. 422 Fleming Street P.O. Box 567 Key West, Florida, 33041 (305) 292-2108 e-mail: office@kwtn.com 3) Where To Sign The Petition For a Citizens Police Review Board The following article is reprinted in its entirety. It was published on July 5, 2001 by "Key West The Newspaper": Petitions are being circulated by the Committee for a Citizens Review Board to create a board to oversee what some call an "out of control" Key West Police Department. If you're a registered voter in Key West and you want to sign a petition, they are available at the front desk of the Key West Business Center, 422 Fleming Street (behind Fast Buck Freddie's), 9-5, Monday through Friday. If you 2 want to help collect signatures, petition packages are also available at the Business Center. The petition drive is based on a provision of the City Charter that allows citizens to make law through a ballot initiative. Ail organizers have to do to get the question on the ballot in November is to collect 1400 signatures, 10 percent of the approximately 14,000 registered voters in the City of Key West. IS the majority of the voters who vote in November vote yes for a Citizens Review Board (CRB), it becomes law. The question: "Shall an independent CRB with subpoena power be created and adequately funded / staffed to review / investigate complaints involving police officers, even if other inquiries are underway, and forward findings / reconm~endations to city management, the State Attorney, other law enforcement agencies and / or Grand Juries? Four members shall be City Commission appointees, nominated by community organizations; three additional members shall be selected by the original four members by the original four members from applications from the general public." The proposed ordinance which backs up the question has been crafted with input from the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE: http://www.nacole.org ) and Bill Smith, a law enforcement oversight consultant. Smith is a former Philadelphia police officer and the former chief investigator for the Philadelphia Police Advisory Commission. "Cops and police departments cannot police themselves," Smith said, "not because good cops don't want to do it, but because it's simply impossible. "Good cops want bad cops off the street and out of uniform," he said. "But few will do anything about it." Smith said that he approached City Manager Avael and City Attorney Bob Tischenkel back in January and offered a free day of consulting to help them get started in setting up a citizens review board. "But I never heard back from them," he said. "We didn't have any problem at all in accepting Mr. Smith's free day of consulting," said Attorney Sam Kaufman, who co-chairs the Committee for a Citizens Review Board with Peggy Ward-Grant, a prominent activist in the Black community. "His input was very helpful." If you want to volunteer to help, pick up a petition package at the Business Center or express your interest in an email to crb@keywestjustice.com or fax 295-7947 or mail: 302 Southard Street, Key West, Fi., 33040. Contributions are also needed to help finance the cormmittee's expenses. Make checks payable to Con~mittee for a Citizens Review Board and drop them off at the Business Center or mail to the address above. To contact Key West The Newspaper for confirmation: Editor/Publisher: Dennis Reeves Cooper, Ph.D. 422 Fleming Street P.O. Box 567 3 Key West, Florida, 33041 (305) 292-2108 e-mail: office@kwtn.com 4) Citizen Police Review Board: What's the Deal? Part I The following article is reprinted in its entirety. It was published as a column piece called Barnes Law Q&A, on June 21, 2002 by "Key West The Newspaper" and was written by Michael Barnes: Part I of II parts: Q. I'm beginning to hear more about this Police Review Board - What's up? A Citizen Police Review Board is frequently a citizen board that investigates allegations of police misconduct. As an introduction, here are a few random "confessions" to help you judge this particular article. Nobody beat them out of me. For a number of years, as an attorney, I was the "PBA" lawyer who represented police officers when they were accused. I still count many of those officers as my friends. Conversely, I now represent Dennis Cooper, the publisher of this paper in his lawsuit against the chief of police ste~mming from his arrest by the chief. I'd also confess that it's my opinion that the entire Key West police department isn't bad. Many good officers, both men and women, are on the force and continue to do difficult work well on a daily basis. Yet again, in a small department, the percentage of officers called into question lately, seems significant. In a big city police department, the same percentage would translate to hundreds of officers. I took the time to go to the recent public meeting regarding citizen interest in a board to review the actions of the Key West Police. It was hosted by the City at old City Hall. Arriving a few minutes late, it was a little difficult to easily get a seat because there were a few left. For most of the meeting, there were an additional 20-25 more people standing in the back . Several city co~nissioners were present. We should applaud them for attending rather than having the meeting reviewed second hand for them by city staff. I saw many of you there. I saw many of you there. You know what happened. This article is primarily for those of you who weren't in the audience. From the crowd, it was tough to square the turnout with the reports that there wasn't much interest in a citizen's review board. The people I saw and listened to were definitely interested. The meeting was opened by the City Manager. The other commissioner seats were filled with senior police officials including the chief and the Key West Police Department's Internal Affairs officers. The meeting started with a slide show and presentation by one of the officers who conducts internal affairs investigations. The purpose of it seemed to be to say to the audience that the police could police themselves. I guess that some would say that was the "could" - "don't" dichotomy. Sorry, just felt like throwing in one of those 50 cent lawyer words. Probably they could police themselves. The open question may be whether they will. One person there was overheard to observe that they thought this was an opportunity for the citizens to speak but it seemed like the first 20 minutes or so was dedicated to the City talking to the people 4 rather than the other way around. Another person in the audience said under her breath, many to hear, "If they were doing as good as they say, here." loud enough for we wouldn't be During the police and city presentation, a citizen in the back tried to ask a question. He was promptly gaveled down and told in plain terms that he couldn't speak until later. I don't think that the following suggestion, to the officials we pay, is out of line. If you advertise and host a meeting to get public input, you might like to behave like the public is welcome instead of out of order. The public input focus seemed to go south from there instead of improving. The City Manager gave up his seat to a "facilitator." One of the "facilitators" first instructions to the audience went something like this, "We know you have strong feelings about this so we're going to have some rules!" I wondered if the reverse would be true. If you don't have strong feelings about an issue, does that mean the city doesn't impose rules? The rules were soon laid down. No clapping, no coaching, no going over three minutes, etc. Here's a few things I learned as a member of the national First Amendment Lawyer's Association. It's true that you may run afoul of some courts if you disrupt a public meeting. Conversely, clapping, by itself, for a speaker hasn't been held to be de facto disruptive in any case I could find or ever heard about. The reverse seems to be true. In one Supreme Court case, the evidence established that cheering, clapping, and singing . . was not breach of peace which would deprive a demonstration of its protected character under federal Constitution as a free speech and assembly. Next, an advertised and open public meeting is virtually always known as a "public forum." The Federal Courts, who frequently hear First A~nendment cases, generally take a dim view of limitations that "chill" public speech and expression in a public forum where people assemble. Next week, we'll talk about the public input which was overwhelmingly for citizen review of the police. To review previous BarnesLaw articles: http://www.kwtn.com/news/features/barneslaw Michael R. Barnes practices law in Key West, Florida. His comments are provided as a pro bono community service and are not offered as legal advice for a particular set of circumstances. If you are concerned that you may need a lawyer, you are encouraged to contact one and follow his or her advice for your individual situation. 5) Citizen Police Review Beard: What's the Deal? - Part II The following article is reprinted in its entirety. It was published as a column piece called Barnes Law Q&A, on June 21, 2002 by "Key West The Newspaper" and was written by Michael Barnes: Part II of II parts: Q. I'm beginning to hear more about this Police Review Board What's up? Last Week we began to talk about a Citizen Review Board (CRB). We loosely defined it as a citizen board that investigates allegations of police misconduct. I mentioned that I had taken the time to go to the recent public meeting regarding citizen interest in such a board. The meeting was well attended with most seats in old City Hall filled, numerous citizens in the "Standing Room 0nly" section in the back and several Key West City Commissioners present. As I mentioned at the end of the last article, the speakers in favor of a citizen review board were significantly more numerous than those opposed to one. It may have been someone as significant as Thomas Jefferson who said something to the effect of "Let us freely hear both sides ." In that spirit, let's open the discussion of what seem to be the areas of opposition to citizen's review board. This article is not intended to be a definitive work on the objections but only an overview to stimulate discussion and public input. "Civilian review is not needed because there are changes already underway and the bad apples or issues are already being addressed." It is certainly true that the spotlight is on the police department, its Chief of Police and therefore its individual officers. Whether that has caused beneficial changes in the operation of the Department appears to be an open question. Similarly, it seems true that a number of officers have been taken to task by the State Attorney's office as reported in this paper and other news media. While it may be good that the State Attorney has taken an interest, the essence of a citizen review board is to "encourage" the police department to act in a manner that keeps the need for citizen review, at a minimum. "Cost to taxpayers" is frequently mentioned as a reason not to have a citizen review board. Large scale citizen review boards may have a director, an administrative assistant, and one or more investigators. In Key West, with its large contingent of volunteers, retirees, and concerned citizens, it is not unusual to see people serve at no cost as a public service. You can expect to hear exaggerated oosts from those against citizen review. Another consideration, whioh is familiar to many lawyers goes like this. If citizen review has the effect of preventing one or more costly lawsuits, the result is both a better police department and potentially lower cost over all. "Key West is too small to need citizen review of the police." My research indicates that Citizen Review can be found across the country in cities and towns of various sizes. It seems reasonable that the need for citizen review should be more based on various factors of need or the lack of it, rather than the size of the con, unity. "Only the 'liberal lunatic fringe' and the 'bad folks' want this CRB." This argument doesn't deserve much discussion. Abraham Lincoln covered this one when he said "It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." One of the most transparent manipulation tactics is to try to build a "them against us" mentality. The technique tries to associate what you oppose with "people who aren't like us. . ." Proponents and opponents of CRB seem to cross all cultural lines. It seems more important to focus on the issues rather than the individuals involved. As is sometimes said, "Fix the problem not the blame." "The citizens DO TRUST the police and the Internal Affairs procedures." This may be true about some of the citizens. It may even be true about a majority of the citizens. As difficult as it is for lawyers, elected officials, police and others to accept, a large part of the Key West world is not involved, on a daily basis, with things that happen at the Courthouse, City Hall, or the Police Department. As some have told me, those who are not involved in the legal system, government, or law enforcement seem to do quite nicely, thank you very much. Said differently, many citizens neither know about the need for civilian review nor care. They don't expect to be affected whether there is citizen review or not. Given the interest in an initiative petition, the answer to how many people care will be determined, very likely, in the voting booth. You can expect that many who are afraid to take a stand against the police publicly, will have no such reservations when they mark their ballot. So let's solicit more discussion on the issue of citizen review. Let's focus on the facts and not the fiction. To review previous BarnesLaw articles: http://www.kwtn.com/news/features/barneslaw Michael R. Barnes practices law in Key West, Florida. His comments are provided as a pro bono community service and are net offered as legal advice for a particular set of circumstances. If you are concerned that you may need a lawyer, you are encouraged to contact one and follow his or her advice for your individual situation. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: legalise_freedom-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 7 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 10:58 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] San Diego's CLERB drops inquiry into inmate's death Panel drops inquiry into inmate's death Medical personnel outside jurisdictionBy Mark Arner San Diego Union Tribune STAFF WRITER July 11,2002 A citizen's panel that reviews county jail deaths has voted to dismiss further consideration of a February 2001 death of a 26-year-old inmate, Marshawn Washington.The 5-3 decision at a board meeting Tuesday drew criticism from Washington's relatives and their attorney, who have filed a $10 million lawsuit against the county. They also questioned whether the review board, which has no purview over jail medical personnel, has enough power to adequately protect rights of inmates. An autopsy found that Washington died of a heart attack at the George Bailey Detention Facility in Otay Mesa, while jail deputies restrained him. His death was deemed accidental.An investigation by the Citizen's Law Enforcement Review Board found the deputies' actions prior to Washington's death were within policy. However, the review board raised "serious concerns" about medical treatment provided "after it became obvious even to deputies that he (Washington) was in medical distress.'"'As this office has no jurisdiction over medical staff," the investigation concluded, "this report will be forwarded to the Sheriffs Department so that it may take the appropriate action." Prior to the decision, Washington's widow, mother and their attorney objected to the proposed dismissal."l'm not familiar with your procedures," said attorney Doug Gilliland, who is handling the family's federal lawsuit against the county. "We're really here out of respect for Marshawn .... "He was put in a four-point restraint, otherwise known as 'hog tying,'" Gilliland said. "A spit sock was placed over his head, because they thought he was gathering spit in an attempt to spit. When he was placed on the floor, he did not move. And they found a faint carotid pulse, and jail deputies said he was then cleared by a nurse to be dragged to a cell .... "But I look at the investigation of the nurses, and they say they didn't clear him to be moved." "I'm very disappointed," said the widow, Bertha Washington. "He was treated like an animal. All of a sudden, I'm alone. And this did not have to happen." Board chairman Thomas Pocklington acknowledged the family's grief, but made a motion to dismiss the case."Absolutely there is grief in their family," Pocklington said. "But we are limited by law to investigate only those individuals under our purview?Board member Steve Castaneda noted that no one had filed a written complaint about the death before a one- year time limit expired. Therefore, he said, the board was precluded from considering other evidence. Opposing votes were cast by board members Develyn Watson, Cheryl Nolan, and Joseph Zaslow. Supporting the dismissal were Pocklington, Castaneda, Shu Cheng, Donald O'Ben, and Robert Winston. Three board members did not attend.When contacted yesterday, Assistant Sheriff Lynne Pierce declined to comment about any discipline of the jail's medical staff. However, she criticized the board. "Since they have no jurisdiction over medical staff," Pieme said, "the department finds it inappropriate for them to be making comments about medical care." John Parker, the board's executive director, said the board is exercising all authority it can under its charter."There are folks in the community who are upset with the board's lack of power," Parker said, "and there are folks in law enforcement who think we go too far. Ultimately, this goes to the Board of Supervisors?The board has been considering a steady increase in complaints about misconduct in recent years against sheriffs deputies and county probation officers. The number of complaints countywide totaled 119 in 1999, 131 in 2000, and 150 last year. Half of the complaints come from jail inmates. The board was formed in 1991, the result of a November 1990 ballot measure. It includes 11 residents appointed by the county Board of Supervisors. Its findings are not binding. 7/12/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 11:09 PM To: Update@NACOLEorg Subject: [NACOLE Update] Former Sheriff Guilty in Successor's Killing July 11, 2002 Former Sheriff Guilty in Successor's Killing By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS I [] iLBANY, Ga., July 10 -- Former Sheriff Sidney Dorsey was convicted today of masterminding the murder of his successor, who was fatally shot in his driveway after winning election on a promise to rid the department of corruption. The jury deliberated for more than two days before returning the verdict in the Dec. 15, 2000, killing of the victim, Derwin Brown, who defeated Mr. Dorsey a few months earlier in a bitter runoff election for sheriff of DeKalb County. Mr. Dorsey was found guilty of murder and racketeering in 11 other counts charging him with presiding over widespread corruption in the suburban Atlanta sheriff's department, a pattern that Mr. Brown had promised to clean up. Phyllis Brown, Mr. Brown's widow, trembled as the verdict was read. Moments later, Ms. Brown dialed her cellphone and told someone: "They got him." Mr. Dorsey, 62, was acquitted of two bribery counts and a charge that he forced employees to campaign for him on county time. He faces a mandatory life sentence, and the judge could toughen that by removing any possibility of parole. Defense lawyers said they would appeal his convictions. Prosecutors said Mr. Dorsey had recruited the men who shot Mr. Brown, 46, and that he wanted his adversary dead so he could retake the sheriff's post in a special election. Mr. Dorsey eventually decided not to run in that election. Jurors heard tearful testimony from Ms. Brown, who recounted hearing what sounded like firecrackers, then walking outside to find her husband dead He had been shot 11 times. "When I walked out the door, I rooked to my left on the ground and Derwin was lying there," Ms. Brown testified. "1 knelt down, and when I looked in his eyes, I knew he was gone." Prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of Patrick Cuffy and Paul Skyers, who said they carried out the killing and testified under immunity deals. Two other men, Melvin Walker and David Ramsey, were acquitted of murder charges in a separate trial by a jury that deliberated only four hours. The defense did not present a case on Mr. Dorsey's behalf, contending that prosecutors had failed to prove he plotted the slaying, a strategy that worked in the trial of Mr. Walker and Mr. Ramsey. That trial was conducted in Decatur, the DeKalb County seat, but the trial of Mr, Dorsey was moved to Albany, a city of some 80,000 about 150 miles south of Atlanta, because of intense pretrial 7/12/02 Page 2 of 2 publicity. After the verdict today, relatives congratulated the prosecutor, J. Thomas Morgan, who failed to win convictions in the earlier trial. "They never lost faith in us and their belief that justice would ultimately prevail," Mr. Morgan said. Mr. Dorsey was also accused of accepting bribes, demanding sex from a female bonding agent, ordering deputies to work for his private security company at taxpayer expense and using deputies to run family errands. One juror, Willie Hayes, 64, said another juror had questioned some of the evidence behind the murder charge. "Once we started going back into the evidence, she started coming around," he said. "She said, 'Deep in my heart, I know he's guilty. But I wonder why those other four went free.'" Mr. Dorsey's cousin said the convictions would be overturned. "We know it is not the final verdict," the cousin, the Rev. Carl Dorsey, said. 'Tm not surprised so much as stunned, because the evidence that was presented by the prosecution, in our minds, was not sufficient to warrant a verdict of guilty on either charge. But the jury obviously saw it another way." In the head-to-head race with Mr. Dorsey for the sheriff's post in 2000, Mr. Brown, a Long Island native and father of five, had vowed during and after his upstart campaign that he would clean house in a sheriffs department where corruption had been entrenched for three decades. He promised to eliminate deadwood and to open audits and investigations. Unlike most Georgia county sheriffs, the DeKalb sheriff is not the chief law enforcement officer. The county has a separate police department, and the sheriff is responsible for managing a jail, serving warrants and protecting the courts. The department has about 650 employees and a nearly $50 million budget. With about 600,000 people, DeKalb County is the second-largest county in Georgia after Fulton County, and is home to Emory University and Stone Mountain.. 7/12/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 11:09 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Lessons From '92 Keep an Angry City Calm NYTimes July 11, 2002 Lessons From '92 Keep an Angry City Calm By JAMES STERNGOLD ' ?NGLEWOOD, Calif., July 10 -- James Hicks, wearing a Malcolm X T-shirt and carrying a "Power to the People" placard, said he was outraged by a videotape showing a white police officer here beating a handcuffed black teenager, and he warned that the community might explode if the officer was not punished. "This kind of thing happens all the time, they just got it on tape this time," Mr. Hicks said. "1 want to help prevent another riot, and if they don't do anything, there will be another riot." People in this city surrounded by Los Angeles have been embittered by the beating, but the best evidence that the city is likely to avoid an eruption like the Los Angeles riots in 1992 that followed the acquittal of officers in a similar incident was that Mr. Hicks was the sole protester in front of City Hall this morning. He was eventually joined by Najee Ali, the executive director of Project Islamic Hope, a community group that has been leading the demands for swift punishment of the officer and changes in the Inglewood Police Department. Mr. Ali said that, in spite of continued police violence over the years, civic officials seemed to have learned from the 1992 riots and, at least for now, had defused tensions. "This beating was worse than Rodney King," said Mr. Ali, referring to the black man whose beating by four white police officers was videotaped a decade ago. "Rodney King was a grown man who was not handcuffed. This was a kid who was handcuffed and then slammed against the car and beaten." But Mr. Ali credited Roosevelt Dom, the mayor of Inglewood, a largely black, working-class city under the flight path to Los Angeles International Airport, with cooling emotions by denouncing the policemen's conduct. Mr. Ali also said community groups had shown restraint. "We marched into the City Hall and we said we would not leave until Mayor Dom met with' us," Mr. Ali said. "He met our demand. Our whole aim is to not let this polarize the city along racial lines. We definitely want to be civil in our actions." Mr. Ali said he believed that the incident was not racially motivated. One of the police officers at the beating, which took place at a gas station, was black, he noted. "That officer would have beaten a white, Latino or black kid the same way," Mr. Ali said. John Mack, the president of the local Urban League branch, said: "It seems to me that some cops never learn. Clearly, the child had been subdued and posed no threat to them, and the other officers stood around watching almost like cheerleaders. The striking difference, however, is the way the 7/12/02 Page 2 of 3 Police Department and Mayor Dorn are handling it now. They're not stonewalling. They're saying something went very wrong." The incident took place on Saturday when the teenager, Donovan Jackson, and his father were stopped at a gas station by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies because of an expired license plate on their car. A man watching from a motel across the street videotaped what happened after the younger Jackson had been handcuffed, a scene that has been shown repeatedly on television. A white police officer, Jeremy Morse, hauled Donovan Jackson in the air and slammed him on the hood of the police cruiser, then hit him in the face with his fist. The police said the teenager had resisted instructions to keep away from the car. Mr. Jackson's family, which filed a lawsuit today against the city and the police, said the young man suffered from hearing and speech disabilities and was often slow to respond to commands. He had no police record. Officer Morse was placed on paid administrative leave while the department investigates. Police officials said he was also under investigation regarding a beating in June. Many people here said Mayor Dorn's comments quickly defused the sudden swelling of anger over the incident. When confronted on Tuesday by the protesters at City Hall, the mayor, a former judge, was unequivocal in demanding that Officer Morse be fired and charged. "1 only had one thing in mind: to do what was right," Mayor Dorn said in an interview. "1 knew what happened was wrong." He added: "We certainly don't want to make the mistakes of '92. Clearly, I don't want to make those mistakes, and I'm not going to make those mistakes." Many community leaders said civic officials had not been forceful enough in denouncing the beating of Rodney King. Merrick Bobb, a special counsel to Los Angeles County who now monitors the Sheriff's Department and who was a lawyer for the Christopher Commission, which investigated the Los Angeles Police Department after the King beating, said he believed that the difference now was not so much the culture of police departments, but the clearheadedness of city leaders. "The Los Angeles Police Department and law enforcement agencies like the Sheriffs Department have learned the lessons of Rodney King and the civil unrest," Mr. Bobb said. "But it's an open question as to whether smaller departments like Inglewood have been passed by." In other preventive measures, nearly every law enforcement agency with any possible connection is now investigating the incident. That includes the city of Inglewood, the county Sheriffs Department, the district attorney, the F..B.I. and the Justice Department. A number of people here said it was mere luck that the beating was caught on tape, adding that such brutality frequently takes place unchecked. Two white Oklahoma City police officers are under investigation after they were videotaped repeatedly hitting an unarmed man with batons as he lay on the ground.. In Inglewood, officials are preparing for a large protest planned for Friday, which the Rev. Al Sharpton 7/12/02 Page 3 of 3 is expected to attend. But, at least for now, officials are not expecting anything more than raised voices. "1 think everyone's learned the lessons of 1992, although time will tell how well," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School. "We know we have these problems. We just can't get rid of these problems." 7/12/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 5 From: Suelqq@aoLcom Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 11:09 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] US Joins Beating Inquiry; More details emerge http J/www !atimes.com/news/!ocal/la-me-ing!ewoodl l jul11 .story U.S. Joins Beating Inquiry Inglewood: Ashcroft sends his civil rights chief to help investigate the videotaped punching of a handcuffed teenager. The officer admits hitting the 16-year-old. By ERIC LICHTBLAU, MITCHELL LANDSBERG and BETH SHUSTER LA Times Staff Writers July 11 2002 Atty. Gen. John Ashcreft dispatched his top civil rights lawyer to Southern California on Wednesday to help investigate the videotaped police beating of a 16-year-old Inglewood boy, as local prosecutors began bringing witnesses before a grand jury. The officer seen on the tape, Jeremy Morse, has been the subject of repeated complaints to the Inglewood Police Department, court and police records show, and now faces the possibility of assault charges in the alleged attack on Donovan Jackson. He also was named, along with the city of Inglewood, Los Angeles County and five other law enforcement officers, in a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Jackson's family. In a report written Saturday night, apparently before police became aware of the existence of a videotape, Morse acknowledged having punched Jackson, authorities said. He said he had done so only after the handcuffed boy grabbed Morse's testicles. It is not clear whether Morse said the boy grabbed him before or after the officer picked Jackson up and threw him face first on the trunk of a police cruiser, the act that is most prominent in the videotape. Morse's lawyer, John Barnett of Orange, criticized officials for what he called their "rush to judgment based on a video." "Public figures are already declaring the officer guilty before finding out what happened," Barnett said. Barnett, who won the 1992 state court acquittal of Los Angeles Police Officer Theodore Briseno in the Rodney King beating, added: "It is disturbing that elected officials, including the mayor of the city where the officer works, have already made up their minds what happened. It creates an image of guilt in the public conscience." Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dom, a former Superior Court judge, said Tuesday that Morse appeared to have committed four crimes, including felony assault. Morse, 24, was relieved of duty Monday after the videotape--taken by a man who was staying in a motel across the street from the gas station where the incident occurred--began airing publicly. Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies say Morse and three other Inglewood police officers had arrived at the gas station where deputies were tussling with the boy. The deputies said they had been questioning Jackson's father about expired tags on his car's license plates when they became involved in a confrontation with the son, who was failing to obey their orders. Family members say Jackson has a mental impairment that causes him to react very slowly to commands. The national profile of the case, raised through repeated broadcasts of the videotape on television news, was lifted still higher when Ashcreft expressed concern and announced that he was taking the unusual step of sending Ralph Boyd, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, to take a direct role in the case. Boyd worked extensively with city officials in Cincinnati last year after allegations of police brutality and racism sparked rioting there. He was expected to meet with Inglewood officials today. The attorney general called Dorn on Wednesday morning to offer his support in defusing racial tensions. Jackson is black, 7/12/02 Page 2 of 5 Morse is white, and some community activists have charged that the case is an example of racial profiling. "The role of law enforcement officers in our society is to protect and serve the American people. The events caught on videotape in Inglewood, Calif., last weekend trouble me greatly, because they raise clear questions about whether that law enforcement mission was being served properly in Inglewood," Ashcroft said in a written statement. Aides to Ashcroft acknowledged that his proclamation was unusual because it could suggest that he was prejudging an investigation that is still in its infancy. But a senior Justice Department official said "this has become a very public issue, and [Ashcroft] felt there was a real need to let the public know how concerned he was about this." The FBI and local authorities have opened separate civil rights investigations into Jackson's arrest and beating. The FBI is expected to deliver a preliminary report on its findings within 30 days to FBI headquarters and the Justice Department in Washington. The episode has evoked bitter memories of the notorious Rodney King beating in 1991. Federal authorities intervened in that case as well, convicting two LAPD officers on federal civil rights charges in King's beating after they and two others had been acquitted in state court. While the two cases have obvious similarities--both were secretly videotaped, and King, like Jackson, is black--there also are significant differences. One is that police immediately reported using force in the Jackson case, something they did not do with King. Morse's account was contained in a section of the Inglewood police incident report read to The Times on Wednesday. It contained the first explanation of why the officer hit the boy, who had been slammed onto the trunk of a patrol car, his hands handcuffed behind his back. The report, written by Morse and his partner, Bijan Darvish, said they "assisted Jackson to his feet and had him stand facing the police vehicle." On the video, it is apparent that Morse slammed Jackson down on the trunk of the patrol car. The report then says Jackson "used his right hand and reached backward, grabbing Officer Morse in the crotch area. Officer Morse yelled at Jackson to let go. However, Jackson refused and began to squeeze Officer Morse by his testicles. "Due to the extreme pain that Officer Morse was in and the fact that Jackson was still attacking, Officer Morse used his right fist and punched Jackson one time on the right side of his face," the report said. "Jackson then immediately let his grip loose of Officer Morse." On the tape, Morse is standing close behind Jackson at that point, but it is unclear from the camera angle whether the boy could have grabbed the police officer. Asked about the allegation that the boy grabbed Morse, an attorney for Jackson, Joe Hopkins, said, "The way I understand it, it was the other way around.." However, he added: "1 don't understand the specific chronology of events." Roger Pettit, who identified himself as Morse's stepfather during a telephone interview, said his stepson telephoned him after the incident and said he had acted in self-defense. "He actually called me after it happened," said Pettit, who lives in the Pacific Northwest. "He said the guy had him by the [testicles]. He didn't have no choice." Pettit described Morse as a "good, Christian kid" who became a police officer to help people. He also insisted that his stepson is not a bigot. Pettit said Morse grew up in a racially mixed neighborhood and has a Latina girlfriend. "Jeremy is not a racist in any way," Pettit said. In addition to the Inglewood police report, another account of the incident is contained in a separate report written by sheriffs deputies, also on Saturday night, before the videotape aired on TV. It alleges that Jackson fought with Deputy Carlos Lopez and Inglewood police officers as they attempted to handcuff him. He "pulled, scratched and fought with the victims [police officers] requiring Inglewood police ... to strike the subject [Jackson] with personal weapons on his facial area," the report said. 7/12/02 Page 3 of 5 Sheriffs officials said "personal weapons" refers to officers' fists. Two sheriff's deputies, Lopez and Daniel Leon, appeared before a grand jury Wednesday after being subpoenaed by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. The subpoenas were issued only after a deputy district attorney tried to sit in on an internal Sheriff's Department review of the case, but was asked to leave. Lopez and Leon had been scheduled to be interviewed by the Sheriffs Department's Internal Affairs investigators. When the deputy district attorney arrived, the deputies' attorney objected, according to several Sheriffs Department sources. The attorney, Richard Shinee, said that it was an administrative review and that he did not want the deputy district attorney to be present, the soumes said. Shinee refused to discuss any details of the investigation with The Times. After Cooley issued the subpoenas, the deputies attended the grand jury hearing with Shinee, Sheriffs Department sources said. The deputies were expected to return to the grand jury today. Typically, the target of a grand jury investigation is invited, not subpoenaed, to a[tendl several defense attorneys said. They said it would appear, then, that prosecutors wanted the deputies to provide information for possible indictments against others, not themselves. The district attorney's office does not customarily speak about grand jury investigations before they are completed. However, in an unusual exchange on a radio talk show Wednesday, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Curt Livesay pointedly warned Mitchell Crooks, the man who shot the video of the incident, to answer a subpoena to appear before the grand jury today. Crooks was being interviewed on the John & Ken show on KFI-FM when he said he was willing to cooperate with authorities, but was worried that he might face unspecified charges. A few minutes later, the radio hosts introduced Livesay, who is second-in-command at the district attorney's office. "Mitchell, let me assure you that there is a grand jury subpoena for you, and I suggest you honor it," Livesay told Crooks. "You show up at the Criminal Courts Building--that's downtown, 210 W. Temple [Street] and be there promptly ... at the grand jury." "Yeah, well I hope the city rallies behind me," Crooks replied. "They're coming after me because I shot the video. I fear for my life." "Mitchell, this is Livesay," the prosecutor shot back. "We want you before the grand jury, not in a cell somewhere. We want you before the grand jury and we want that original tape." With Morse and Jackson at the center of what was rapidly becoming a national case, more details emerged Wednesday about each of them. Two people filed a lawsuit Wednesday charging Morse and another officer with striking them in January, and documents and interviews point to several other complaints involving the officer. Not all of the other cases involved violence, but in one, 22-year-old Akkilah Artiga of Inglewood alleged that Morse struck her with a baton in the course of breaking up a party she attended last New Year's Eve. Inglewood police would not comment on the allegations against Morse, but none has resulted in legal action against him, and his lawyer, Barnett, dismissed the accusations as the work of people in search of money or publicity for their stories. Classmates of Jackson at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale described him as a quiet, easygoing person who likes to dress well and stays out of trouble. Most said they had no idea he had a mental disability, but stressed that he was not a violent boy. "Heck no, he wouldn't hit an officer," said Arrin McDaniel, 15. Students described Jackson as active in school clubs, including Ebony Nation, which promotes African American culture, history and community service. Jackson had recently become one of the school's peer mediators, said Tatiana Morgan, 16. Leuzinger High School officials would not say whether Jackson was enrolled in special education classes, although Jackson's lawyer showed a reporter a copy of a document that classified his disability. 7/12/02 Page 4 of 5 John Minor, 17, of Hawthorne said he was enrolled in a regular science and math class with Jackson in the 10th grade and tutored Jackson during 20-minute periods their algebra teacher set aside every Friday. "He could sit and have a conversation with you, but as far as learning he didn't catch on as quick as everyone else," Minor said. "You'd talk to him and you tried to explain something and it would take a while for him to understand. When I heard about what happened, that's the first thing that came to my mind." Lichtblau reported from Washington, Shuster and Landsberg from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Steve Berry, Anna German, Carla Hall, Richard Marosi, Sandra Murillo and Richard Winton contributed to this report. http;//www,!atimes.com/news/Iocal/!a-meqopezl ljuH 1005058 column?co!l=!a%2Dhead!in~s%2Dca!jfornia POINTS WEST There's No Excuse for Beating Case--No Not Even That Steve Lopez July 11 2002 So the kid might have grabbed the cop's testicles. Sometimes, in defending their use of force, cops say a suspect reached for a weapon. In this case, 16-year-old Donovan Jackson allegedly reached for a set of jewels, according to the cop who punched him in the face. Jackson, as you must know by now, was the subject of a Saturday altercation that was caught on videotape in Inglewood. I don't know how much is paid out each year to settle brutality lawsuits in Southern California, but it might be cheaper to just buy every single resident a video camera so cops stay on their best behavior. Even U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcreft, never accused of being a civil rights activist, was disturbed enough by the video to open an investigation. Of course, that may have more to do with President Bush learning from the mistakes of his father, whose downfall arguably began with him ignoring the causes and results of the Rodney King riots 10 years ago. Some readers-including several cops-were ticked off by my assessment of the Inglewood altercation in Wednesday's column. I wrote that no matter what preceded the videotaped part of the incident, there was no justification for Jackson, a kid with no arrest record, being roughed up while his hands were cuffed behind his back. An angry Inglewood cop e-mailed me to say I didn't know the facts of the situation. I asked if he was referring to the jewel grab, which had been rumored, and he responded: "When someone has a handful of your testicles, and I speak from experience, yes it certainly does justify the punch." I'll respond to that later. My colleague Beth Shuster reports in today's paper that Officer Jeremy Morse claims in the incident report that Jackson had him by the privates, and he was in "extreme pain." Morse also reported that he then punched Jackson in the face. spoke to one of the Jackson family's attorneys outside the federal courthouse Wednesday after they filed a complaint. Portasha Moore called the testicle claim utter nonsense and said it's disputed by Jackson and his father. All right. Let's go to the video. To set it up, Jackson's father had pulled into a gas station, and Jackson had gone into the mini-mart for a bag of potato chips. When he returned, he saw police talking to his father about a lapsed registration. Police say a scuffle broke out 7/I2/02 Page 5 of 5 when the boy refused to stand back. Jackson ends up on the ground in handcuffs, Morse has some blood on his head, and at this point, unbeknown to anyone, a witness begins videotaping. We see officers stand Jackson up, his hands cuffed behind him, and then Morse suddenly lifts him off his feet and slams him face-first onto the trunk of the car. It's after this, according to the sequence as laid out in the police report, that Jackson grabbed his privates. I watched over and over, in slow motion, forward, reverse and every which way, and it is not clear whether Jackson grabbed Morse's business or not You simply cannot tell. Jackson's hands appear to be in a position where he could conceivably have grabbed the officer, even though he was handcuffed and face down on the trunk of the car. And Morse does appear to react angrily to something specific. After the first punch, in fact, it appears that he raises his hand to clobber Jackson again, but he's blocked by other officers. So let's say, for the sake of argument, that Jackson did grab the officer Does it justify a punch in the mouth? The answer is no. If the officer feared the kid might reach for his service weapon, it would be understandable, but that's not what we're being told. And it's fairly pathetic that four veteran officers couldn't restrain a handcuffed, slightly built 16- year-old without one of them hauling off and punching him in the mouth. Look, we're all aware that police work is nasty stuff, that cops are underpaid, and that they're unrealistically expected to solve all of society's problems, as well as show up 10 seconds after we call for help. We know they put their lives on the line, and make split-second decisions that are easy for people like me to second-guess. But they choose this work, and they do so knowing that in spite of the danger, pressure and threat of lawsuits from lottery- happy plaintiffs and attorneys, there's a measure of pride in performing a difficult public service with integrity and professionalism, as most of them do. Which brings me to my main point. Forget the testicle allegation for a moment. What about what happened moments earlier? The video clearly shows a cop losing his cool. Let me repeat: Morse picked a handcuffed boy up off his feet and slammed him into the car. Even if Jackson did grab the cop's privates after that, it might have been the desperate act of a terrified kid who feared he was about to become the next Rodney King. Even the defensive cop who e-mailed me said of the body slam into the trunk: "1 will not try to justify the action." Morse's conduct was ugly, it was inexcusable, and with any justice, there will be no chance of a repeat performance. 7/12/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2002 4:22 PM To: Update@NACOLE,org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Seattle: Killing of White Deputy Quiets Protests over 2 Police Shootings July 13, 2002 Killing of White Deputy Quiets Protests Over Police Shootings of 2 Blacks NYTimes By TIMOTHY EGAN [[] EATTLE, July 12 --After the fatal shooting of a black man by a white police officer last spring, community leaders here planned a chain of demonstrations to follow a rush-hour shutdown of the freeway through downtown. The aim of these "surprise strategic strikes," the organizers said, was to change the way the police treated African-Americans in Seattle. At the same time, city leaders were preparing new regulations for police officers, intended to determine whether race was a factor in whom they stopped and arrested. But the protests and the regulations were abruptly put on hold by the killing three weeks ago of a white King County sheriff's deputy by a black man who had a history of run-ins with law enforcement. The deputy, Richard Herzog, was shot after he tried to restrain the man, who had been running naked in traffic. Deputy Herzog used pepper spray, but he was knocked to the ground, lost his weapon to the man and was repeatedly shot in front of nearly 50 people. The killing has generated a backlash against efforts to make officers more sensitive to race, with officers saying they feel inhibited from fully protecting themselves because of fears of racial recriminations. "We are sick and tired of being nitpicked about decisions we make every day," Sheriff Dave Reichert said at an emotional news conference shortly after his deputy's death. "We are sick and tired of being looked at as racists." A question that Sheriff Reichert and other law enforcement agents raised is whether Deputy Herzog had feared using his gun out of concern that he might be criticized later. "1 wish I could ask Deputy Herzog that question," the sheriff said. The highest-ranking black elected official here, County Executive Ron Sims, said in an interview that he believed the deputy had been inhibited from using force because of fears of racial reprisal. "There's no question race probably had an inhibiting effect," Mr. Sims said. Even after the officer had been killed, he said, the police still showed restraint in arresting the suspect, Ronald Matthews, 44, a convicted felon with a history of violence toward officers. "The officers did not shoot him, they did not rough him up, and that took a lot of discipline," he said. The racial wounds stem from two fatal shootings in two years. In one, a black man, Aaron Roberts, 7/15/02 Page 2 of 3 was shot by a white officer, Craig Price, as Mr. Roberts tried to drag another officer alongside Mr. Roberts's car in May 2001. In the second shooting, in April, a white off-duty sheriffs deputy approached a black man parked in a predominantly white neighborhood. The deputy, Mel Miller, said the man, Robert L. Thomas Sr., pulled a gun on him, prompting him to fire. A number of black residents here said shooting would never have occurred nor would suspicion have been aroused if the person in the car had been white. At a funeral for Mr. Thomas, black ministers demanded that Deputy Miller be fired and that police officers and sheriffs deputies be required to have racial sensitivity training. Several hundred mourners marched from the funeral to Interstate 5, the main north-south freeway, and blocked traffic in the evening rush hour. The march's organizers said the protests would continue all summer unless the police changed their tactics. At the very least, the protesters said, the two shootings could have been avoided if the officers had used less lethal force, like pepper spray. But the shooting of Deputy Herzog, after he had used pepper spray, brought a twist to the debate. "What we're hearing from the public is a very high level of emotion now," Sgt. Greg Dymerksi of the sheriffs office said. "You have a police officer killed, and many people believe it is because officers are being second-guessed too much." At a news conference last week, some black civic leaders who had criticized the police expressed support for them, and urged that people not politicize Deputy Herzog's death. "This is not a black, red, brown or white issue," said James Kelly, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. The Rev. John Hunter, pastor of the First A.M.E. Church in Seattle, said, "We are appalled by this tragedy." The police say that in response to years of complaints they have been trying to use other ways to restrain suspects. Deputy Herzog's death shows that sometimes officers have no choice but to fire their weapons, they say "If he'd gotten to his gun first and used it, he would have been vilified by some people for his actions," Tom Umporowicz of the Seattle Police Officers Guild said. "There's no way you cannot think about stuff like that" Of the tremendous show of support in the county and in the city for the police since the shooting, Mr. Umporowicz said, "When police officers become victims, suddenly everyone loves a cop." The police said one way to reduce suspicions would be to require every patrol car to have a video camera to record all stops. The union supports that, but elected officials have been slow to buy the cameras. Mr. Sims, the county executive, said he had been urging black residents to concentrate on race issues like disparity in school testing rather than using shootings as rallying cries. "There are always going to be altercations between police and people that arouse these emotions," he said. "But race and class are things we can deal with through education. One problem is solvable. 7/15/02 The other is not." Page 3 of 3 7/15/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Monday, July 15, 2002 9:37 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] NYTimes.com Article: Terror Makes All the World a Beat for New York Police $RFC822 emi This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by hector.w.soto@phila.gov. Terror Makes All the World a Beat for New York Police July 15, 2002 By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM As it moves ahead in a post-Sept. 11 world, the New York Police Department is taking on many jobs that were once the sole province of federal authorities, from posting officers abroad to creating a medical staff to analyze the potential impact of weapons of mass destruction. New York City detectives will be assigned overseas to work with the police in several foreign cities, including ones in Canada and Israel. Assignments in the Middle East and Southeast Asia are under discussion. A detective will be used as a liaison to Interpol, the international police agency based in Lyon, France, and two detectives have been assigned to F.B.I. headquarters in Washington to speed the flow of information. The department also plans to assign a police official to New York City's lobbying office in Washington to handle the department's dealings with other federal agencies. Teams of investigators assigned to the Police Department's new Counterterrorism Bureau have been trained to examine potential targets in the city with an eye toward hardening them to potential attack. The teams have evaluated high-profile sites including the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center and the United Nations, as well as the city's bridges. "We want to emphasize, we're not looking to supplant anything that's going on in the federal government - this is to augment," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said recently in his office at Police Headquarters in downtown Manhattan. "Why are we different? Well, we've been targeted. We're sitting 10 blocks away from why we're different." Such augmentation includes an ambitious program this month to survey and test those officers with language skills, from Pashtun and Urdu to Arabic, Fujianese and other dialects, and train others. Detectives and analysts in the department's revamped Intelligence Division are already reading foreign newspapers and monitoring Internet sites. Detectives have also visited more than 1,000 businesses around the city - from heliports and chemical and explosive supply firms to Army-Navy stores and those that sell Hasidic garb and scuba gear - to build a frontline defense to thwart those who might be preparing for an attack. Such aggressive antiterrorism measures were largely the responsibility of federal authorities before Sept. 11. The uppermost ranks of the department have visited the Naval War College in Rhode Island, and war-college trainers will soon be brought to the city to work with other senior police commanders. The department is also setting up several backup command centers in different parts of the city in case a cataclysmic event puts 1 Police Plaza out of operation, and has created several backup senior command teams so that if the highest levels of the department are killed, individuals will already have been tapped to step into their jobs. Commissioner Kelly, who detailed the new measures in recent interviews and has touched on some of them in recent speeches, said they were part of a broad effort to help prevent another terrorist attack and to better prepare for a possible next strike. Mr. Kelly regularly points out that New York has been a target of terrorists four times in recent years - twice successfully. His overall effort has put the department on a war footing, meant not only to address past weaknesses but also to make the agency the national model for oounterterrorism preparedness. Mr. Kelly says that the department is working more closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal agencies than it has in the past, and will continue to do so, despite what some officials describe as struggles over information sharing. "The federal government has a national focus," Mr. Kelly said. "We have a much more parochial focus. We feel we have to protect ourselves." Because the new Counterterrorism Bureau and the Intelligence Division are undertaking tasks that have never before come under the purview of the police, Mr. Kelly said, he has chosen their leaders with experience that has little or nothing to do with the more mundane aspects of municipal policing. In January, Mr. Kelly appointed a retired Marine lieutenant general, Frank Libutti, to head the department's counterterrorism efforts and David Cohen, the former director of operations of the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served for 35 years, to head the Intelligence Division. Last month, Mr. Kelly named Dr. Kevin Cahill, the head of the Tropical Disease Center at Lenox Hill Hospital, as the department's chief medical adviser for counterterrorism. Dr. Cahill, who diagnosed two cases of anthrax in the city last fall, recently formed a board to advise the department on how to protect officers and others responding to catastrophic incidents. Under Mr. Libutti's supervision, the department is also undertaking a comprehensive training program to teach patrol officers, who most likely would be the first to respond to any attack, including one with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, what to look out for. Other changes deal not necessarily with responsibilities 2 that once belonged solely to the federal government, but with issues specific to New York City. The rescue effort at the World Trade Center, in which 343 firefighters were killed, was plagued by radio problems and lack of communication between the Fire and Police Departments. With an eye toward improving communication and relations with the Fire Department, Mr. Kelly, with the support of Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, has set up liaison offices in the two departments' headquarters and begun flights for fire chiefs in police helicopters so they can serve as airborne command centers. "These are things the P.D. needed to do for some time and had not done," said Jerome M. Hauer, the director of the federal Office of Public Health Preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services, who led the city's Office of Emergency Management under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. As head of the Counterterrorism Bureau, Mr. Libutti oversees the more than 100 city police detectives who work terrorism cases with the F.B.I. as part of the Joint Terrorist Task Force, and a roughly equal number of investigators who work cases supported by the intelligence-gathering efforts of Mr. Cohen's staff. Mr. Libutti said that the department quadrupled the number of detectives assigned to the task force after January. Mr. Cohen said the Intelligence Division and its 700 investigators now devote 35 to 40 percent of their resources to counterterrorism, up from about 2 percent before January. http://www.nytimes.com/2OO2/O7/15/nyregion/15TERR.html?ex 1027742153&ei 1 &en d648284750cea06e 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 onlinesales@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. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company eSafe scanned this email for malicious content IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Monday, July 15, 2002 10:27 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] NY Daily News OpEd,: Sunday, July 14, 2002 pic00041 pcx pic18467 pcx pJc06334.pcx pic26500.pcx picl 9169pcx ](Embedded limage moved Ito file: Ipic00041.pcx) Black & True Blue For the real story on police and race, ask black cops IBy HEATHER MAC DONALD IAsk Detective Carl McLaughlin whether the Ipolice prey on black people, and this normallyl lebullient Brooklyn cop will respond icily: "I Ijust prey on people that are preying on Iothers. It shouldn't be a race thing." IA cop's denial that policing is racist is Iperhaps not noteworthy ? except for one thing: IMcLaughlin is black. As such, he represents an lignored constituency in contemporary policing Icontroversies: black officers who loathe Irace-based cop-bashing as much as any Irish Iflatfoot. lAs the American Civil Liberties Union and Iother professional cop haters flood the media Iwith tales of endemic police racism, Irank-and-file minority officers, who might be Iconsidered ideal commentators on these ]matters, appear only as intriguing statistics I? such as those showing that black state Itroopers in New Jersey, the alleged cradle of racial profiling, stop the same proportion of black drivers as do their purportedly racist white colleagues. So I set out and talked to several dozen black cops and commanders from eight police departments, from Brooklyn to Olympia, Wash., about why they became police officers and how they view today's policing controversies. What I found was a bracing commitment to law and order, a resounding rejection of anti-cop propaganda and a conviction that racial politics are a tragic drag on black progress. IThe thoroughly mainstream views of these black Icops are a reminder that invisible behind the lantics of A1 Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are Imany black citizens who share the common-sense Ivalues of most Americans. IThis is not to excuse the manhandling of the Ihandcuffed suspect in California that has been Iplastered on television these last days. But Iwhile anomalies like that make headlines, the leveryday dedication of officers, black and ]white, is treated as not news. IAi1 black officers, whatever their reason for Ijoining the force, face the same occupational Ihazard: race-based taunting. "You work for I 'The man'" McLaughlin constantly hears in IBrooklyn. "I don't work for 'The man'" he says limpatiently. "I work for the penal law." lit is their emotional relation to the good Ipeople of the community that makes policing Isuch an imperative for these cops. Many come Ifrom God-fearing, law-abiding homes where Irespect for authority was absolute. These Iofficers have seen firsthand the damage done Iby thugs, and they are determined to stop it. I"I will never retreat," vows McLaughlin. "We are the last line of defense against mayhem." Amid all the anti-cop taunting they hear, theyl remind themselves, in the words of Officer David Brown, that crime victims "regard you as heroes." IIf the law-abiding black poor and middle class late no abstractions for these cops ? as they late for guilty white liberals, who Icondescendingly think they are benefiting Iblack people by promoting criminal-friendly Ipolicies ? neither is the depravity of young Ithugs some distant construct to be brushed laway for the more gratifying exercise of lunderstanding the underprivileged. IConstant exposure to criminals teaches cops Ihow to recognize them. "Just as we stand out, Ithey stand out," explains Officer Troy Smith Iof San Antonio, Tex. But being black by no Imeans insulates officers from the racial Iprofiling charge when they arrest a lowlife Ithey've spotted. IMost officers I spoke to reject the racial Iprofiling myth. If you're stopped, they said, lit's for a reason ? you fit a description or lyou've done something to raise an officer's Isuspicion, such as hitch up your waistband in 2 la way that suggests a hidden gun. Statistics Ithat tabulate officer-civilian interactions Irace alone grossly distort the reality of Ipolicing, many black cops complain. IUnless top management reassures cops that theyl Ican count on support in strong enforcement lactions, black officers caution, some cops Iwill inevitably back off in the face of racial Ipressures. ICops ? black, white, Hispanic, you name it ? Iscratch their heads at the seeming priorities Iof the so-called community. "There can be 50 Ishootings of civilians, and no one will ]protest," marvels John Hayward, a fast-talkingl Icommunity-response officer from the IPhiladelphia department. "If a cop shoots one Iperson, everyone's demonstrating. If you Iprotest against us, why don't you protest lagainst the drug dealers?" ISurely the cops would get more support from Ithe community if their moral authority were Inot constantly under siege from left-wing lactivists within and outside police Idepartments. Lt. Eric Adams of the NYPD has Imade a media career for himself by testifying lagainst the department before every camera he [can find, as the self-appointed head of a Imysterious organization called One Hundred IBlacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. IEvery time Adams says something negative about Ithe police, observes Wilbur Chapman, the INYPD's chief of patrol during the 1990s, the Idepartment loses blacks who are "on the Ifence," whether as witnesses or potential Irecruits. "There's no voice to say:, 'This is Inot the reality,'" says Chapman. (Adams did Inot return my calls.) IThe sum total of these pressures is a police Iforce fighting with one hand tied behind its Iback, according to many black officers ? Icontrary to black activists who incessantly Iportray police forces as out of control. ISadly, the media and politicians never Irecognize these moderate voices as valid Irepresentatives of black officers. The Iperverse logic of race politics, even within Ipolice departments, dictates that the only lauthentic blacks are angry blacks. And so the Isupposed spokesmen for black officers are lalmost always the most radical members of a Idepartment, usually unelected, who push a Igrievance agenda of quotas and lower Istandards. 3 The long-running race racket that has so distorted our national discourse shows no signs of letting up, but that is only because we have been listening to the wrong people. There is no inherent reason why only the victimologists should be granted legitimacy asl representatives of black interests, especiallyl since so few of them are elected. IWhy not at least give equal time to a Wilbur IChapman, say, when he argues that the "biggestl limpediment to minority advancement is white Iguilt" and asserts that, whatever the Iremaining problems in ~nerican race relations I"the bottom line is: No one can stop me from Igetting my piece of the American dream"? [As for the state of policing itself, while my linterlocutors don't constitute a perfectly ]constructed, randomized sample, neither do IAdams and his counterparts across the country. lAnd, unlike the cop complainers, these Ipro-police cops are not seeking benefits or Ipower from their testimony. II believe that the support for law enforcement lexpressed by these officers is widespread lamong black cops. Their voices represent an lessential, and wholly overlooked, perspective Ion current law enforcement controversies, one Ithat should give us hope not just about the Ipolitics of policing, but about race relations writ large. Mac Donald is the author of "The Burden of Bad Ideas" and a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute's City Journal, from whose upcoming issue this is adapted. (Embedded image moved to file: pic18467.pcx) (Embedded image moved to file: pic06334.pcx) (Embedded image moved to file: pic26500.pcx) What do you think? Post your comments on our IForums. {Embedded image moved to file: pic19169.pcx} 4 **~ eSafe scanned this email for malicious content *~ IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Marilyn Head [corpus@evl.net] Tuesday, July 16, 2002 12:20 AM 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; Physicians for Social Responsibility, Wayne Shandera; ProTex list serve; Rainbow Houston; NACOLE; NAACP; Am-Arab Anti-Dis Corn; ACLU Houston Chapter Isolated incidents In Monday's Houston Chronicle, Dale Lezon's article "Praise, suspicion greeting HPD's new Latino Squad" quotes Marco Numez, the Mexican consulate's current press attache who states, "the past deaths of Hispanics involving the police appear to be isolated incidents and the consulate now encourages Hispanics to trust HPD officers." However the statistics compiled by Civilians Down www.civiliansdown.com indicate otherwise: A total of 112 persons have died by shootings, beatings, car chases, in custody, and etc. in Harris County by peace officers from 1997 through 2001. By race the breakdown is: Black 13 White 15 Hispanic 37 Other 3 Unknown 44 Most recently, Thursday, July 18, 2002, Mario Romero-Mejia was shot to death by a Harris County deputy constable during a traffic stop. Houston police said Marlo was confrontational and was pulling a gun from his pocket when the deputy shot him. However, witnesses dispute the constable and HPD story. LULAC is calling for an investigation. Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Malvina Monteiro [mmonteiro@ci.cambridge. ma.us] Tuesday, July 16, 2002 10:11 AM Sue Quinn FW: Racist police brutality remains endemic in many areas ..... Original Message ..... From: owner-amnesty-l@oil.ca [mailto:owner-amnesty-l@oil.ca]On Behalf Of ai-news@amnesty.org Sent: Friday, July 12, 2002 8:02 AM To: amnesty-l@oil.ca Subject: USA: Racist police brutality remains endemic in many areas * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International * 12 July 2002 AMR 51/113/2002 Videotapes showing US police beating two unarmed black suspects in separate incidents in the past week are a disturbing reminder that police use of excessive force remains endemic in many areas, Amnesty International said today. An incident filmed Saturday night shows an officer from Inglewood (a town near Los Angeles airport) lifting a handcuffed youth in the air and slamming his head onto the hood of a police car. The second incident, on Monday, shows two Oklahoma City police officers repeatedly beating a suspect on the ground with their batons. The suspect was pepper-sprayed twice. In both cases the officers involved were white, and the suspects black. "It is even more disturbing that both incidents took place in routine stop and search situations," Amnesty International said. "While some departments have introduced reforms following heightened scrutiny in recent years, this has not filtered down to all departments or all levels, and allegations of police brutality, particularly towards minority suspects, remain common in many areas." While welcoming reports that investigations have been opened into both cases, Amnesty International is disturbed by remarks made by an Oklahoma City police spokeswoman, apparently justifying the officers' actions on the ground that the suspect was "not compliant". International standards, such as those contained under the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, state that force should be used only as a last resort and it must be proportionate to the threat posed. Repeatedly beating a barely resisting suspect, including while he is lying on the ground, appears in clear violation of these standards. There have been other disturbing cases involving the Oklahoma City Police Department. In January 2001, Amnesty International wrote to the Oklahoma City police chief to express concern about the case of Billy Bennet Jr, who died in September 2000 after being hogtied and pepper sprayed. Although the coroner ruled out positional asphyxia as a cause of death in the case, Amnesty International urged the department to ban hogtying as a dangerous form of restraint and to review the use of pepper 1 spray. In the same letter, Amnesty International also expressed concern about several fatal shootings by Oklahoma City police officers in a four-month period. Amnesty International will be raising its concerns about the latest cases directly with the departments involved and urging them to review their use of force policies and ensure that human rights standards are incorporated into police training and fully observed. You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the list subscription message may be removed. To subscribe to amnesty-L, send a message to <majordomo@oil.ca> with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe, send a message to <majordomo@oil.ca> with "unsubscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact <owner-amnesty-L@oil.ca>. <owner-amnesty-L@oil.ca> handles only messages concerning list administration. Past and current Amnesty news services can be found at <http://www.amnesty.org/news/>. Visit <http://www.amnesty.org> for information about Amnesty International and for other AI publications. Contact amnestyis@amnesty.org if you need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 7:09 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Inglewood: Activists Silent on Beating http://www~!atimes, com/news/Ioca!/la-me-lopez12ju!12 co!umn?coll=!a%2Dhead!!n~s%2Dcalifornia POINTS WEST Activists Silent on Beating Steve Lopez July 12 2002 As is often the case, Najee Ali was the first speaker and most familiar face Tuesday at the demonstration outside Inglewood City Hall. He popped a few veins over the videotaped altercation between cops and 16-year--old Donovan Jackson, stepped aside for a while, and then returned to tell everyone that New York Reverend Al Sharpton was on his way to town for a march and rally. This announcement was met with approval from the 100 or so demonstrators, but for me it was a sorry sign. L.A. is a major league city. As I wrote Wednesday, we shouldn't have to count on Al Sharpton, of all people, to lead any of us anywhere. So the next day, I met with the ubiquitous Ali, of Project Islamic Hope, to ask what gives. "We're in a crisis in black leadership in Los Angeles," he said without hesitation. "They're more concerned with making money, and a lot of the time, our so-called black leaders are poverty pimps." Ali had borrowed the phrase from former Los Angeles Mayor Dick Riordan. But what exactly did he mean by it? I asked. "There's no real concern for the welfare of the people. There's not a way for them to profit off of this or they'd be involved. I haven't been contacted by any other black leader or group except for Rev. Al Sharpton." He did add that the Rev. Jesse Jackson, another outsider, called Donovan Jackson's family. "You juxtapose this with Bernard Parks," Ali said, referring to the recent ouster of the LAPD police chief, "an"d every major black leader busted the barricades to be heard. Now we've got a child beaten on videotape, and no one's moved an inch." Speaking of Parks, the guy lives five minutes from Inglewood and wants to enter politics, and he's got nothing to say? Ali, 38, ends up being L.A.'s face of black leadership "by default," to use his own words. "In New York, I'd be one of a handful. But the elders here are not grooming young leaders, and all the black elected officials are old people ... who care more about driving their Mercedes and having a house in Baldwin Hills or Ladera." Ali, a former gangster with the Crips, and an ex-con who got religion in prison, lives in Baldwin Hills himself and Project Islamic Hope is funded in part with grants. So I asked what distinguishes him from the so-called poverty pimps. "1 fight for social justice," he said. Among those Ali criticized by name were L.A. County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, both of whom represent Inglewood. I called their offices for a response. Burke's secretary, who had been out of the office for several days, said that if Burke hadn't said anything, it's probably 7/17/02 Page 2 of 2 because she wasn't asked. Sometimes my job is just too easy. The secretary later called back to say that in fact, Burke "stepped up to the plate" with a motion to investigate the incident. "Stepped up to the plate" and whiffed, if you ask me. I'm being generous in guessing it took Burke roughly five minutes to assemble her motion, which misstates the facts and adds nothing to the discussion. Waters was on the phone to me from Washington, D.C., about two minutes after I called her office, and she was not happy. She refused to criticize Ali, but said that in addition to working on homeland security and helping wage the fight against corporate crime, she's been on national television and radio speaking out about the Inglewood incident. She said she's also been "in constant communication" with Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dom and the lawyer for Jackson's father, and she sent U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft a letter calling for an investigation that has now begun. "1 think I'm doing enough, don't you?" she asked. I felt as though I'd stepped into the middle of a feud between Ali and Waters, so I called Iongtime activist and author Earl Ofari Hutchinson to referee. "1 see merit on both sides," Hutchinson said. Ali is right about a vacuum in black leadership, he went on, but Waters shouldn't be lumped in with the do-nothings. So who should be? The list is long, said Hutchinson. The NAACP, chumh leaders, the Urban League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, black professional groups. When black leaders do speak out in L.A., Hutchinson said, it's often because Ali is raising a ruckus on the street, forcing them to. L.A. doesn't need a Sharpton or any other outsider who's going to vanish "when the cameras are gone," Hutchinson said. It needs more local folks with courage and conviction. There was only one person left to calI--KABC radio talk show host Larry Elder. "There is a crisis of black leadership," agreed Elder, a black libertarian perpetually at odds with LA.'s black political class, but it's got nothing to do with "yelling and screaming" when a 16-year-old gets punched by a cop who later says the kid grabbed him where it hurts. "It's about the appalling performance of our inner-city public schools, where three out of four kids can't read, write and compute at grade-level. But the Democratic Party and Maxine Waters and all these people are in bed with the teachers unions and resist every sort of change, including vouchers." "Where are they on black-on-black crime?" Elder asked. "Murder has gone up three consecutive years in this city1 including in Maxine Waters' district.... A quarter of young black men have criminal records, 70% of black children are born out of wedlock.... Where are black leaders on that stuff?" Talk about grabbing people where it hurts. 7/17/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 7:09 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Shwartz Re-Trial in Louima Case; Verdict in nLouima's attacker: Ex-officer not in bathroom during assault From Ronni Berke CNN NEW YORK (CNN) --New York City police Officer Justin Volpe testified that ex-police Officer Charles Schwar-z never participated in the assault of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in a Brooklyn station house five years ago. Volpe said another officer, Thomas Wiese, stood watching in the bathroom as the assault took place. Schwarz is accused of violating Louima's civil rights by holding Louima down in the police station bathroom ~vhile Volpe sodomized Louima with a broken broomstick. His 1999 conviction in the attack on Louima was overturned earlier this year by a federal appeals court. Volpe, who pleaded guilty in 1999, testified Monday in Schwarz's trial that no other officer helped him in the attack. "Schwarz was never in the bathroom at any point," said Volpe, the lead defense witness in the case. Volpe, now serving the third year of a 30-year sentence for violating Louima's civil rights, said he had nothing to gain by testifying for the defense. On the contrary, "it definitely occurred to me that if I said Schwarz was there, I could get a lower sentence," Volpe said. Volpe, Schwarz and three other officers -- all white -- stood trial in the attack on Louima, who is black. While Volpe and Schwarz were convicted of torturing Louima, the other three officers were acquitted. Louima suffered severe internal injuries and required several operations to repair a ruptured rectum and bladder. He reached an $8.7 million settlement with the city and the police union in the case. The brutal nature of the attack caused a public outcry and inflamed racial tensions in the city. The case also shattered the NYPD's so-called "blue wall of silence" -- the unspoken practice of police officers protecting their own who are accused of misconduct. Three officers testified against Schwarz in the trial, saying they saw him leading Louima to the bathroom just prior to the assault. Volpe testified that Wiese had gone with him and Louima into the bathroom and watched the assault, but said and did nothing. Wiese's attorney, Joseph Tacopina, denied Volpe's account of the bathroom incident. "He walked in after the assault had taken place," Tacopina told CNN in a telephone interview. His client will not testify for the defense, Tacopina said. "He's not testifying because he's been through two federal trials. He's got a wife and three kids. There's no question in my mind, if he testified, he'd be invited to a third trial." Tacopina said Volpe lied on the stand when he said Wiese witnessed the assault to get revenge against Wiese for turning him into the police Internal Affairs Bureau. Dressed not in prison garb but in a gray man-tailored shirt and charcoal trousers, Volpe recounted the events of August 9, 1997, when he and several other officers responded to a report of street fighting outside the Club Rendez Vous in Brooklyn. 7/17/02 Page 2 of 3 Volpe said Louima continuously provoked him, cursing at him and even engaging in a fist fight with him on the street. Later, after Louima was arrested and brought to the station house, Volpe said he felt himself becoming "very worked up. ... I was mad, couldn't think straight." "When I was angry, I foolishly got it in my head I want to talk to this guy," Volpe said. He decided to take Louima to the bathroom and "get an answer" about why he had provoked him outside the club, he said. But during cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Vinegrad, Volpe admitted that he was "looking for revenge" when he brought Louima to the bathroom and attacked him. http :~www ~newsday~c~m~news~ca~wire~ny~bc~ny~p~icet~rture~rea~716ju~16~st~ry Louima's supporters call for 4th trial after partial verdict By DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writer July 16, 2002, 7:28 PM EDT NEW YORK -- Abner Louima's supporters blamed the partial verdict of former police officer Charles Schwarz on the jury's racial makeup and insisted he be tried a fourth time. Schwarz was convicted late Tuesday of one count of perjury by a Brooklyn federal court jury that deadlocked on another perjury charge and two more serious charges of depriving Louima of his civil rights by participating in the brutal assault. U.S. Attorney Alan Vinegrad said he was prepared to retry Schwarz on the other counts, but defense attorney Ronald Fischetti predicted prosecutors would ultimately drop the case. "If Alan's ready, I'm ready _ but I don't think they will," Fischetti said. "They've tried him three times now," Fischetti said, referring to two earlier trials in which Schwarz was convicted but saw the verdicts overturned on appeal. "This should end it." Fischetti said he was disappointed in the perjury verdict, but he termed the conviction a "technical violation." Prosecutors charged Schwar-z held down Lou[ma while another officer sexually assaulted him in a precinct bathroom. Schwarz has argued that he was never in the bathroom of Brooklyn's 70th precinct. "The whole world knows he's a liar," the Rev. Al Sharpton said. The activist leader blamed the legal stalemate on a pro-Schwar-z "media blitz" by the officer's defense team. "Even with the unprecedented media blitz ... and with a jury that I felt was racially unbalanced1 he still failed to acquit himself," Sharpton said. The racially charged case of a black Haitian immigrant assaulted by one or more white police officers should not have been decided by a jury of 10 whites and two African-Americans, Sharpton said. Although frustrated, Louima believes in the justice system and is prepared to testify again, his brother Jonas Louima said at a press conference surrounded by Louima's mother, Sharpton and lawyers Johnnie Cochran, Barry Scheck and Sanford Rubenstein. "it's very hard. It's like a stab wound that never heals, but we understand our justice system and will do whatever it takes," he said. All of them repeatedly pointed out that Schwarz had never been acquitted of any charges in the case. Both at City Hall and Police Headquarters, reaction to the verdict was muted with the knowledge there could be yet another trial for Schwarz. 7/17/02 Page 3 of 3 "The jury has spoken," said NYPD spokesman Michael O'Looney. "Since there are still open judicial questions on this case, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time." Mayor Michael Bloomberg's spokesman Ed Skyler said he would not comment until the U.S. attorney's office decided whether to retry the case. A spokesman for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association declined to comment on the case, referring questions to Schwarz's lawyers. Editors: Associated Press Writer Deepti Hajela contributed to this report. 7/17/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 7:09 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Inglewood Follow Up Articles 7 12 02 THE INGLEWOOD BEATING Line of Questioners for Officers at the Scene :~ Investigation: Local and federal authorities want more answers from two deputies and three Inglewood patrolmen. By BETH SHUSTER,LA TIMES STAFF WRITER All but one of the six law enforcement officers at the scene of the Inglewood beating of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson remain at work, but they face questions from several agencies about what they did and what they saw, officials said Thursday. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley convened a criminal grand jury Wednesday to probe the use of force against Jackson during the Saturday incident. The U.S. Attorney's Office has launched a civil rights investigation, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Inglewood Police Department are conducting internal reviews. The FBI is also investigating. Both Inglewood Police Chief Ron Banks and Sheriff Lee Baca said Thursday that they believe their officers properly reported the alleged misconduct immediately after the arrest of the boy. The incident began Saturday evening when two sheriffs deputies attempted to question a driver, Coby Chavis, about expired registration tags. Jackson, his son, came out of the gas station market and, deputies said, did not respond to requests to stay out of the car and to let them investigate the vehicle violations. Instead, the deputies said, the boy became tense and unresponsive, and resisted when one of them wanted to handcuff him. Inglewood police officers then arrived, and a struggle ensued. A videotape, broadcast nationwide over the last several days, shows Inglewood Officer Jeremy Morse picking up the boy and slamming him down on the trunk ora patrol car. Morse then moves behind the handcuffed boy and punches him on the side of the face. Although Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say they don't believe the two deputies at the scene engagec~ in wrongdoing, they said they have a list of questions that they want answered. The deputies, Carlos Lopez and Daniel Leon, will meet with internal affairs investigators today. The Sheriffs Department's Office of Independent Review-a group of attorneys hired to help internal investigations-is shaping the questions that the deputies will be asked. The deputies are expected to testify before the grand jury next week. Lopez, 29, has been with the department seven years; Leon, 27, has been a deputy sheriff for six years. Both worked in the county jails prior to coming to Lennox, which 7/17/02 Page 2 of 2 is common procedure in the Sheriffs Department. Three of the four Inglewood officers, Mariano Salcedo, Bi jan Darvish and Antoine Crook, are at work between calls to discuss Saturday's beating before a county grand jury and an Inglewood Police Department internal investigation. Morse has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation. Salcedo has been with the department for eight years, Darvish for three years and Crook for one year. The overlapping investigations are welcome to many people who say the different agencies will focus on separate but critical issues. "1 favor investigations from different agencies," said Merrick Bobb, a special counsel to the Board of Supervisors who oversees the Sheriffs Department. "Cooley is looking at, 'Did a crime occur?' That is different than asking the question of whether the deputies or Inglewood Police Department officers violated internal policies of either department." Bobb said the different sets of questions will be valuable to a possible criminal proceeding and to possible tactical and procedural changes that could result from Saturday's incident. Among the questions for the sheriffs deputies in the internal review will be why they decided to pursue the vehicle violation against Chavis in Inglewood, which is outside of the sheriffs territory. The deputies were on their way to eat when they spotted the expired registration tags on Chavis' car. Several sheriffs officials have questioned whether the deputies should conduct criminal investigations in other departments' areas. Additionally, sheriffs officials still don't know if the deputies saw all of the force that appears on the videotape. In their report about the incident, which they filed Saturday night, the deputies said force was used during the scuffle to handcuff the boy. The deputies did not mention the officer punching the boy. Richard Shinee, an attorney representing the deputies, said: "1 am very confident that they acted appropriately, professionally and in accordance with the department's policies." Baca agreed, saying he believes the deputies will provide the grand jury with "clear, thorough and complete information." 7/17/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 7:34 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Chicago: Wrongfully Accused Man Sues Wrongfully accused man sues cops July 16, 2002BY LUCIO GUERRERO STAFF REPORTER A man wrongfully charged with killing his mother is suing the city of Chicago and five police officers claiming he was coemed--mentally and physically--into confessing. Attorneys for Corethian Bell, 26, filed the lawsuit Monday and are asking for an unspecified amount of money damages. Bell was held for 17 months in the Cook County Jail before a DNA test proved his innocence in the July 2000 murder. He was released in January. The DNA matched that of another man who was later charged with stabbing and sexually assaulting a Chicago woman in December 2000 about five blocks from Bell's mother's home. "Bell's case is a shocking example of police abuse," said Locke Bowman, legal director of the MacArthur Justice Center and one of Bell's attorneys. "It is unconscionable for the police to take an obviously innocent man, who was grieving and in shock at the brutal murder of his own mother, and then mercilessly interrogate him for 50 hours to force him to confess."The police should pay for this outrage." According to the lawsuit, police interrogated Bell immediately following the murder and purposely lied to him in order to get him to confess. Bell was isolated during the interrogation, subjected to a polygraph, and told details of the murder that Bell later used in his confession. But Bell's attorneys said police lied about outcome of the polygraph, telling him that he had failed and then used physical force to get him to sign a confession. The confession was videotaped, but that, too, is being questioned. "What happened to Mr. Bell during the 50 hours of 'interrogation' before the police decided to turn on the video cameras?" said Craig Futterman, an attorney for Bell. Evidence collected at the murder scene--including blood and semen samples-- would be key to absolving Bell. However, that evidence was not tested for nearly a year after the crime. Once the results were in, charges against Bell were dmpped"ln addition to the obvious cruelty of falsely accusing and incarcerating an innocent man for the murder of his mother, the framing of Mr. Bell allowed the real killer to brutally rape and to stab another woman just months after his murder of Mr. Bell's mom," Futterman said. "A simple DNA. test might have thus prevented this double travesty."A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said there would be no comment on pending litigation. A spokeswoman for the city said officials had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment. A spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office said the prosecutor assigned to the case followed procedure. He said once prosecutors found out that the DNA did not match, they immediately dropped the charges. They have not since charged anyone in the murder of Netta Bell. Police accused Corethian Bell after he phoned 911 to tell them he had found his mother dead in her South Side home. Police discovered the body in the bathroom, completely naked, seated on the toilet with multiple stab wounds in her face and torso. Bell, who is mildly retarded and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, met police at the apartment and was then taken to Area 2 police headquarters and questioned. "The police took advantage of a vulnerable, defenseless person who just lost their mother in a brutal murder," Bowman said. "That is unacceptable behavior." 7/17/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: kwa357@yahoo.com Wednesday, July 17, 2002 11:21 AM hector,w.soto@phila.gov; update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] A washingtonpost,com article from: kwa357@yahoo,com You have been sent this message from kwa357@yahoo.com as a courtesy of the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63924- 2002Jull2.html What Is Operation TIPS? THE JUSTICE Department is not saying much about the Terrorism Information and Prevention System -- otherwise known as Operation TIPS -- which is due to begin as a pilot program later this summer. Apparently the only public information about the program, in fact, is on a government Web site, which describes it as "a nationwide program giving millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees, and others a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity." Operation TIPS will, in the pilot stage, involve a million workers, who, "in the daily course of their work, are in a unique position to serve as extra eyes and ears for law enforcement." It will offer them "training . in how to look out for suspicious and potentially terrorist-related activity." It will also provide "a formal way to report" that activity "through a single and coordinated toll-free number." This description, which is essentially all we know about the program, poses more questions than it answers. Public vigilance is a good thing, and so is encouraging citizens to alert authorities to terrorist activity. It makes sense to educate people who work at potential targets or at places where lethal cargo may be smuggled. But having the government recruit informants among letter carriers and utility workers -- people who enter the homes of Americans for reasons unrelated to law enforcement -- is an entirely different matter. ~nericans should not be subjecting themselves to law enforcement scrutiny merely by having cable lines installed, mail delivered or meters read. Police cannot routinely enter people's houses without either permission or a warrant. They should not be using utility workers to conduct surveillance they could not lawfully conduct themselves From the sketchy descriptions of the program so far, it is impossible to determine with any precision what the government is intending. Is TIPS to be principally focused on cargo shipping or on people in their homes? What sort of home activities will the government be urging workers to report to authorities? And what incentives, if any, will be used to encourage volunteers? Nor is it clear whether the program will be effective. It is easy to imagine how such a program might produce little or no useful information but would flood law enforcement with endless suspicions that would divert authorities from more promising investigative avenues. A White House official told us that the program will be focused more on suspicious activities around neighborhoods tha n inside homes. And a Justice Department spokeswoman says that the program is still "in its early planning stages." The administration owes a fuller explanation before launch day. Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Marian Karr Page 1 of 4 From: policereform [policereform@austin.rr.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 11:29 AM To: cjrcpoliceaccou nt@yahoogroups.com Subject: [cjrcpoliceaccount] 3 recent police shootings questioned July 17, 2002, 6:llAM 3 recent police shootings questioned DA sees no pattern, but some witnesses skeptical By DALE LEZON and PEGGY O'HARE Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Law enforcement officers in Harris County have killed two people and wounded another since Thursday, shootings the officers said were in self-defense but some witnesses said were not justified. Christopher Menifee, 23, was killed Monday night after authorities said he tried to run down a Harris County sheriffs deputy with a car. Early Tuesday morning, Houston Police officer Gerald M. Goines, 37, wounded James Sullivan during an attempted robbery. And Thursday, Mario Romero-Mejia was killed by Harris County Deputy Constable Matthew W. McCord after investigators said Romero reached into his pocket for a handgun during a traffic stop. In the Menifee shooting, a neighbor who saw part of the incident questioned the police officer's use of deadly force. Rachel Garcia, who didn't see the shooting, said she didn't understand how the confrontation that preceded it became violent. "They were talking to Chris real good," Garcia said. "There was no yelling." Angela Chapman saw the shooting of Romero-Mejia and said it was unprovoked. "I feel that cop was so in the wrong," Chapman said. "It just didn't make any sense to me." The League of United Latin American Citizens said it will investigate Romero- Mejia's shooting. Activist Johnny Mata said the group will first meet with Precinct 1 Constable Jack Abercia, with whom "our relationship has always been open." Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said he does not believe the three shootings constitute a pattern. He said more police officers are on the street and that makes such shootings "inevitable." 7/18/02 Page 2 of 4 "I can't say this is indicative of a trend," Rosenthal said. "I certainly hope not. But who knows?" Some police watchdog organizations, however, fear law enforcement officials may consider the shootings the price of police work. "These shootings in that period of time are not business as usual," said Scott Henson, director of the police accountability project for the American Civil Liberties Union. Tommy LaFon, the Harris County assistant district attorney who investigates law-enforcement-involved shootings, said the "clustered" police shootings are not uncommon. He said the county has had 17 shootings involving officers so far this year and averages about 36 annually. "I would say it's typical based on past experience," LaFon said. If that many police-involved shootings are normal, then a problem exists, said Henson. "What that tells me is that the district attorney's office says this all OK and nothing to be upset about," Henson said. In Monday's fatal shooting, Menifee and Matthew Anderson parked their sport utility vehicle in front of Menifee's ex-girlfriend's apartment at the Cranbrook Forest apartment complex about 10 p.m. Garcia said she called police when Menifee broke a window at the apartment and went inside. She said the woman who lived in the apartment had told her to call police if Menifee showed up. Garcia said she did not know the woman's name, and sheriff's officials did not release it. When deputies Wallace Wyatt and Richard Montes arrived, they spoke with Anderson, who was sitting in the SUV, Garcia said. Then they went into the apartment and spoke with Menifee, investigators said. Garcia said she heard some "rumbling" in the apartment and one deputy screamed, "Oh, my leg." Then she saw Menifee run out of the apartment into the parking lot, with Wyatt following. She said she heard three shots fired. Garcia said Menifee ran around the corner of her apartment building and she heard more shots. According to the sheriff's department, Menifee was in the apartment sweeping up glass from the broken window when Wyatt and Montes arrived. Menifee told them he lived at the apartment, said Sheriffs Department Sgt. T.E. Kiser. When deputies tried to arrest him, he fought. Montes' leg was broken in the scuffle and Menifee ran out the door, Kiser said. Wyatt chased him on foot, Kiser said. Menifee jumped into the passenger side of a woman's car in the parking lot driveway and pushed on the woman's leg, making the car lunge forward toward Wyatt, Kiser said. Wyatt fired at the passenger side of the car's windshield, striking Menifee, who died at the scene, Kiser said. Kiser said the driver was not in danger of being hurt. Anderson was not arrested, Kiser said. Montes was treated at the Houston Northwest Medical Center and was released Tuesday, a hospital 7/18/02 Page 3 of 4 spokeswoman said. A few hours later, off-duty HPD officer Goines shot Sullivan, who police said tried to rob the officer at gunpoint. Goines arrived at his apartment at 5600 Chimney Rock near Gulfton with his 10-year-old daughter about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday. He said Sullivan and another man confronted them and demanded money. Sullivan pulled a pistol and ordered Goines not to move. Goines grabbed his own pistol and shot Sullivan once in the abdomen, police said. Sullivan and the other man then jumped into a pickup and fled, with Goines pursuing in his own vehicle and radioing other officers for help. Officers later learned that Sullivan had been dropped offat the Houston Community Hospital. They arrested him there and took him to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he was listed in good condition Tuesday night. Sullivan was charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. His accomplice was still on the loose late Tuesday and police have not be able to identify him. · In the other fatal shooting, McCord shot Romero-Mejia, 20, three times in the abdomen about 9:30 p.m. Thursday after stopping him in the 900 block of North Shepherd for an apparent traffic violation, investigators said. According to investigators, McCord said he fired when Romero-Mejia, ignoring orders, was taking a gun from his pocket. A .380-caliber handgun was recovered from Romero-Mejia's body. Cynthia Valles, who said she saw the confrontation from across the street, said Romero-Mejia made a movement toward the officer. She said she did not see a gun, but added that it was very dark and Romero-Mejia moved quickly. Romero-Mejia kept trying to reach into his pants pocket, ignoring orders to stop, McCord said. The man kept saying "licencia," indicating he was getting his driver's license. The officer said he stepped back, drew his own weapon and took cover on the other side of the car. He fired when Romero-Mejia refused to comply. The Harris County District Attorney's Civil Rights division is investigating the shootings. The SheriflYs Department homicide and internal affairs divisions also are investigating Menifee's death, and the HPD homicide division and internal affairs division are investigating Romero's shooting and Sullivan's wounding. Yahoo.* Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT 7/18/02 Page 4 of 4 ~ttp:#us.al .yimg.com/us.yimg.com/~co/columbiahouse/D_300x2 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: cjrcpoliceaccount-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 7/18/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Wednesday, July 17, 2002 1:02 PM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] FW:] Rehnquist and the new sureveillance guidelines FYI - Attached below (as an Adobe Acrobat file) is an OP Ed from this week's Washington, DC "Legal Times" on Chief Justice Rehnquist and the new Ashcroft surveillance guidelines. The author is general counsel of the national ACLU. (See attached file: legtimes.pdf) ~** eSafe scanned this email for malicious content *** IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders WEEK OF July 15, 2002 · VOL. XXV, NO. 28 Chief Justice Has History of Siding With 'Big Brother' BY FRANK ASK1N For 33 years, William Rehnquist has kept the door open for Big Brother to spy on American political dissi- dents. Before he ever jothed the Supreme Court, Rehn- quist was the point man for efforts to expand governmental surveillance of dissidents. In March 1969, Assistant Attorney pOIIlt~ ~4:1' ' 'Generat Rehnquist forwarded to Attorney Oeaeral John Mitchell a memorandum prepared "by members of my staff" proposing a division of labor between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Army Intelligence in the gathering of surveillance data on the activities of the civil rights and anti- war movements. (New York Times, Sept. 11, 1986.) In 1971, Assistant Attorney General Rehnquist defended the Amy's Domestic Intelligence Program at hearings conducted by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. When Chairman Sam Ervin asked Rehnquist whether "you feel there are any serious constitutional problems with respect to collecting data on or keeping under surveillance per- sons who are merely exercising their right of peaceful assem- bly or petition to redress a grievance," Rehnquist answered no. He further told Ervin that the ease ultimately known as Laird ~ Tatum, which was then challenging the constitutionality of mil- itary surveillance of civilian activists, should be dismissed on the procedural ground that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. In 1972, President Richard Nixon appointed Rehnquist to the Supreme Court, just in time for him to cast the deciding vote that June dismissing Tatum on the same ground that he had earlier articulated before the Senate. Had Rehnquist recused himself in the case, as legal ethicists almost unani- mously agreed he should have, the case would have been remanded to the U.S. District Court for a trial at which Rehnquist would almost surely have been called as a witness-- if not actually named as a defendant. In 1986, most of the 33 senators who voted against the ele- vation of Associate Justice Rehnquist to chief justice cited his questionable role in regard to the Army's Domestic Intelligence Program and the case of Laird v. Tatum. Despite Rehnquist's spirited defense of FBI and military surveillance practices, public outrage over the revelations of investigatory abuses by the military and the FBI, as well as the Central Intelligence Agency, forced the Army to discontinue its own program and caused the FBI to adopt voluntary guidelines precluding surveillance of individuals solely because of their political expression and association. Congress adopted the Federal Privacy Act, forbidding government agencies from col- lecting or maintaining information on citizens' exercise of First Amendment rights, except when pursuant to an authorized law enforcement investigation a prohibition the FBI finesses by self-authorization. OPEN QUESTION The executive branch and the FBI have now brought us back to square one. Attorney General John Ashcroft's new guide- lines repeal the self-imposed FBI restraints on political surveil- lance. And on May 31, The New York ~mes reported that the new guidelines were perfectly constitutional under the Supreme Court's decision in Tatum. Actually, the Times' imprimatur of lawfulness is somewhat exaggerated. The 5-4 majority in Tatum did not say that the surveillance program was constitutional. Instead, they decided the case on the disingenuous rationale that the persons who brought the suit had not been injured and, thus, had no stand- ing to complain--a notion derided in Justice William O. Douglas' dissent "as too transparent for serious argument." Indeed, Chief Justice Warren Burger's majority opinion specif- © 2002 NLP IP Company. All rights reserved. Tbis article is reprinted with permission from Legal Times (1-800-9334317 · subscriptions~legallimes.com · www. legaltimes.biz). ically stated that "when presented with claims of judicially cognizable injury resulting from military intrusion into the civilian sector, federal courts are fully empowered to consider claims of those asserting such injury." Before development of the law in this area was aborted by the Tatum decision, the one court that had squarely ruled on the constitutionality of police surveillance of political activists had found that it violated the First Amendment. In Andersen v. Sills, a New Jersey trial court made the following sweeping observation: "The secret files that would be maintained as a result of this intelligence gathering system are inherently dan- gerous and by their very existence tend to restrict those who would advocate social and political change." (The 1969 ruling by the Hudson County Superior Court was later set aside by the New Jersey Supreme Court as premature.) a. Events have now come full circle. Everything old is new again. Maybe some time soon the Supreme Court will get a new chance to examine the constitutionality of practices that, when carried out in other countries, we Americans consider the hallmarks of a police state. If so, the justices will find that there is an enlightened decision by a state trial court to guide them. The bad news is that William Rehnquist still bars the way. Frank Askin is professor of law at Rutgers School o fLaw in Newark. He was the ACLU attorney for plaintiffs in the two cases mentioned here and is the author ora memoir, Defending Rights: A Life in Law & Politics (Prometheus Books, 1997). Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Malvina Monteiro [mmonteiro@ci.cambridge.ma.us] Thursday, July 18, 2002 8:$7 AM Sue Quinn Leslie English; Sonya Pence; Stephen McClenon Cambridge SWAT officers shoot man toting hatchet July 16, 2002 By HILLARY CHABOT CNC STAFF BOSTON HERALD A Vietnam War veteran, allegedly irate about his cable television service, was shot and killed by SWAT team officers he charged with a hatchet when they entered his Cambridge home yesterday, investigators said. The man, identified by neighbors as Daniel Furtado, a 59-year-old grandfather, was said to be "off his medication "when Somerville police showed up at 33 Porter St. just before 11 a.m. to check out a homeowner's complaint that Furtado had severed a cable-service wire on nearby Bedford Street. A neighbor speaking on condition of anonymity said this was not the first time Furtado had lost his temper and acted out. "The cops know him. He's done this before, "he said. "You could hear him [on past occasions] screaming up the. street and breaking stuff. "He was a nice guy, but he could have been on the lighter side. This is horrible. Seth Horwitz, spokesman for the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, said officers "attempted non-lethal alternatives "to disarm Furtado, but he declined to say what they were. Cambridge police did not return several calls seeking comment. Horwitz did not believe any of the officers involved in the shooting were injured. He declined comment on what their duty status was as of last night. State police assigned to District Attorney Martha Coakley's office are investigating the circumstances behind Furtado's death. The DA's office said Furtado's death resulted from "multiple gunshot wounds during an assault on police officers. " Furtado's wife, Natalia, who moved out last week because she feared for her safety, watched the ill-fated, three-hour standoff from the street. Mike McCool of nearby Somerville Auto Service said Furtado was on medication for a psychiatric disorder -- medicine he stopped taking two or three months ago. He said Natalia Furtado was living with her daughter, Helena, in Malden because she was afraid of her husband's behavior. "A week ago she left because she was scared to sleep there, "McCool said. A man who said he'd been Eurtado's neighbor for four years, but did not want to give his name, said Furtado may have been taking medication for the service-related flashbacks he appeared to suffer from. "He must have been off his medication, "the neighbor said, "although, he' s been pretty mellow lately. He used to be a little on edge about parking, but who isn't around here?" McCool identified a man on the street shouting up to the barricaded Furtado as the veteran's therapist. McCool said Furtado was pleasant, so long as he got help. "He's a nice, nice guy when he's on his medication, "he said. Neighbors said Furtado climbed onto the roof of 46 Warren St. 20 years ago and threatened to jump. He was also off his medication during that incident, according to one neighbor. Jose Rego, whose sister-in-law lives a few houses up from Furtado on Porter Street, believes SWAT officers overreacted. " If the man had a gun, yes, "Rego said, "but an ax? Come on, give me a break. I know the police try to do their best, but sometimes they have to stop and think. Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: beth.pittinger@city.pJttsburgh.pa.us Thursday, July 18, 2002 11:02 AM Update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] This news story was sent to you by request This news story has been sent to you from post-gazette.com, the online edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The sender supplied the information below. A reply to this message will be directed to the sender. Name: Pittinger E-mail: beth.pittinger@city.pittsburgh.pa.us Message: Click here: http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/comm/2OO20714edvall4p3.asp http://www.post-gazette.com Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org JULY 18, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (To ALL Media... A non- selective Dispatch!!) Citizen Police Review Board 816 Fifth Avenue, Suite 400 Pittsburgh PA 15219 412-765-8023 Telephone 412-765-8059 Fax Members of the Board: M& Marsha b5 Hinton, Chair Mr. John H. Bingler, Esq. Vice-Chair Mr. Craig B. Edwards Rev. Toussaint Hill. D. Min. Rev. Johnnie Monroe, D. Min. Mr. Charles A. Peters Mr. Eric Roberson Solicitors: Mr. Frederick ~K Thieman Mr. Thomas ~ Farrell Executive Director: Ms. Elizabeth C Pittinger Contact: Beth Pittinger 412-765-8023 (O) 412-600-6110 (Cell) Re: Police Restriction of Public Information The efforts of Chief McNeilly to restrict citizens' access to public information defies a fundamental tenet of American democracy: the people's right to know. The imposition of what amounts to be administrative censorship compounded with overt interference with the vehicle of public information - the American media - is intolerable, repugnant, and indescribably arrogant. Privacy, issues related to security of victims and witnesses are protected by various "shield" laws. There is no justifiable police purpose attendant to this interference with the public's right to know - and the media's right to inform the public, indeed their duty to inform the public. Certainly, this policy will not improve the relationship between the community and the police. The selective nature of media access raises serious suspicion as to the true motivation of this Police directive. · Was it done as a police tactic to minimize questioning of police conduct? · Was it done to cast a shadow on the journalistic ethics and reporting integrity of those identified and privileged newspaper reporters? · Why are radio and television reporters presumed to lack journalistic integrity and subjected to an interview with police command personnel before they are permitted to see public information? Is this not reminiscent of government controlled information akin to opponents of democracy like China, Iraq and the Taliban? The Board will discuss this restrictive police policy and consider making a recommendation to the Mayor and the Chief of Police at its meeting on Tuesday, July 23, 2002 at 6:00 p.m., in the City Council Conference Room, 5th Floor, City County Building. Page 1 of 1 - 7/18/~2 Letters to the editor~ 07/11/02 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Thursday, July 11 ~ 2002 The Pittsburgh Police Bureau is not hiding crime reports I was surprised and disappointed to read the July 4 article "Police Hide Crime Reports." Nothing could be further from the truth. Contrary to the headline, in reading the article one could realize that we do make police reports available to the media. I have taken considerable measures to enhance the media's access to police information. We have established a public information officer position within the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police to expedite information to the media. (A new PIO will begin July 15 to replace the prior PIO who resigned for other employment.) In addition, I ensured that media experts such as Jerry Nachman (who teaches media relations at the Senior Management Institute for Police and the FBI Academy) instructed our police command staff on the importance of media relations and the benefit to both police and the media from our interaction. All of our sergeants and lieutenants have received media training in the past from our PlO. The Bureau of Police has made information available more than most other agencies. In fact, we have released more information than is required. This has created problems for our witnesses and in our investigations. Some information is prohibited from being released by law. Other information is not required to be released, such as investigative information in ongoing investigations. This includes information concerning witnesses such as their names, addresses and phone numbers. As we have encouraged witnesses to come forward, we must protect their personal information or risk losing the trust placed in our ability to protect them. We currently are reviewing the best methods to protect victims, witnesses and investigative information while providing general information in regard to incidents. The best place to do that is in one central location. We are committed to ensuring access to reports. Unfortunately, the reporter who wrote that story could have contacted me at home, as other reporters frequently do, so that I could offer an explanation. There was nothing so urgent in the article that the reporter couldn't have provided me with time to respond. CHIEF ROBERT W. McNEILLY JR. Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Downtown Pittsburgh Post-Gazette July 4, 2002 CITYWIDE: Police hide crime reports Pittsburgh Police Chief Robert McNeilly Jr. has directed his staff in a department memo to withhold from public view all crime reports kept in local police precincts. Police "incident reports" are considered public records under the state's Right to Know Act. Members of the media who yesterday tried to view the incident reports -- records of individual incidents investigated by police -- were told by police that the reports are considered public records only when they reach the records room. Those records, however, can take days or weeks to show up in the city's records room, located in the municipal courts building at 660 First Avenue. Hours there are limited; the office is open 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday through Friday. Terri Henning, a media law attorney with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said Pennsylvania courts have clearly ruled that police incident reports are considered public information. Even so, she said, police officials' refusals to allow access to the records "is a common problem and a frequent cause of frustration." Henning said that crime reports are essential public records because they can educate residents about crime and "serve the people who live in the neighborhood" where the crime is conunitted. McNeilly was on vacation and could not be reached for comment. Police officials at the East Liberty station would not allow a reporter to copy his memo. However, according to Police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki of the East Liberty Station, police have gotten "feedback from the community" because some witnesses to crimes have been threatened when their names appeared in news accounts. Henning said that the open records law allows for exceptions in certain cases. But, she said, a blanket rule that withholds all incident reports "would be inappropriate. The courts have ruled on that." Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 10:26 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Tale of Two Tapes; Britain Covers Oklahoma Police Beating Tales of the Tapes Do Two Videotapes Show Obvious Police Brutality? By Bryan Robinson July 11 -- The videotapes seem to clearly tell the story -- some say police brutality is alive and well in both Oklahoma City, Okla., and even in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, more than a decade after the Rodney King debacle. But do the videotapes tell the same story or two different stories? The Inglewood amateur tape shows police officer Jeremy Morse, a three-year veteran of the force, hoisting and slamming a handcuffed 16-year-old, Donovan Jackson, onto the trunk of a police car and then punching him in the face before the other officers with him intervened. The Oklahoma tape shows two officers kicking and striking an unarmed man with their tactical batons during an arrest. The officers, Greg Driskill and E.J. Dyer, were taped trying to subdue Donald Reed Pete, who appeared to resist various police orders -- first to get on the ground and then once grounded, to put one of his arms behind his back. Both officers, each four-year veterans of the force, used pepper spray and their batons, repeatedly striking Pete and stopping only after they had him handcuffed. Pete's arrest was captured on video by Brian Bates, a local self-proclaimed "video vigilante," who said it appeared excessive force was used because Pete never threatened the officers but was just slow to respond to orders. The Oklahoma City police department said Pete was resisting but not "actively resisting" and that the officers appeared to have been following a procedure that allowed them to use non-lethal force against an unarmed suspect. So when does police force become police brutality? Experts say it's when the force continues in excess after a suspect has been clearly subdued."A police officer can use as much force as he or she believes is necessary to bring a suspect under control, but no more than what is necessary," said Van Jones, National Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC) and head of Bay Area PoliceWatch, a police watchdog organization. "Once the suspect is under control, that's it. Using more force than is necessary is excessive force by law." Reasonable Force, Brutality in the Eye of the BeholderStill, depending on how they were trained and on the specific situation, officers may have different ideas on what is necessary force and what is excessive."Under the law, police are entitled to use reasonable, necessary force in order to gain control of a suspect and take him into custody," said Merrick Bobb, director of the Police Assessment Resource Center. "What is reasonable is a judgment call for an officer well-trained in what to do in those circumstances It often involves what techniques the officer has been trained to use and how the officer has been trained."Some police supporters, particularly in the arrest of Donovan Jackson, have warned that critics should not rush to judge Morse and the other officers involved because the tape does not tell the whole story. It does not show how Morse received a bloody gash over his left ear or reportedly received lacerations on his elbow and knee. It does not show how, police say, Jackson lunged at a sheriffs deputy as officers were investigating a car driven by Jackson's father that had an expired registration. The tape also does not reveal whether Jackson provoked the beating captured on tape or whether he was "mouthing off' to the officers. However, experts say the circumstances that led up to the arrest become irrelevant after he's been placed in handcuffs and subdued."There is no punishment in this country that calls for someone to be punched in the mouth for talking," said Jones. "Once the suspect is under control, that does not give the officer the right to use excessive force for talking .... There are too many officers out there who want to issue their own brand of street 7/19/02 Page 2 of 3 justice and want to be the judge and jury. And once we let that happen, the whole system begins to go haywire." Handcuffed -- Mostly Under ControlPolice may not consider a suspect subdued until he is promptly obeying all orders, has been disarmed and has been handcuffed In Donald Pete's case, police were called to the scene by Bates after he saw Pete allegedly picking up a prostitute and engaging in sex. Officer Driskill arrived alone and on foot. When Driskill ordered Pete out of his van, he saw him put what appeared to be marijuana in his mouth. Pete began to eat the marijuana and a police helicopter hovering above the scene requested backup for Driskill. Officer Dyer arrived to help Driskill subdue the heavy-set Pete. Though Pete was not aggressively resisting them, he appeared on tape to be resisting nonetheless. Supporters of Dyer and Driskill have said they had to use their tactics to be sure the larger Pete would not overwhelm them or grab their weapons suddenly. Experts say it is not guaranteed that suspects are entirely subdued even when handcuffed. But in most cases, they are."lt depends on the situation," said Bobb. "For the most part, once the individual is handcuffed, the person is under control. Any use of force used after the suspect has been brought under control will be looked at carefully and with skepticism." Questions Surrounding Video VigilantismSome skepticism has surrounded "video vigilante" Bates, who reportedly tapes illegal sexual activity and reports it to police and makes money from his video vigilante Web site and regular appearances on talk shows. Still, people should not be discouraged from videotaping and filing reports if they believe they are witnessing police brutality. "If people were sending in edited versions of what happened, then I'd be concerned," said Jones. "Choosing what to report, what to show, that can be very dangerous. But if someone happens to see and tape something in plain view, that can be as bad for the suspect as it could be for the police officer.. As long as the person presents unedited, raw tape, then they are doing a service.'"Tm not wary of tape nor do I believe they always present the full story," said Bobb. "They rarely present the entire story, but I do believe they present a highly accurate account of what was witnessed."Morse has been relieved of duty and placed on,- administrative leave with pay pending an investigation. The three other officers who were with him on the Jackson arrest have not been relieved of their duties. Meanwhile, a civil rights lawsuit was file d in federal court on behalf of Jackson and his father Wednesday as prosecutors announced a grand jury probe into the arrest. In Oklahoma, Driskill and Dyer,will remain on duty pending an official review. Pete faces numerous charges associated with the arrest, including alleged possession of drugs, engaging in an act of lewdness, as well as destroying evidence. You've been framed Jim White Monday July 15, 2002 The Guardian American police have been caught at it again. Two officers were filmed beating a 21-stone man called Donald Pete 27 times after he resisted arrest in Oklahoma City for soliciting a prostitute. Although not disputing the figure, the police claimed that those 27 whacks about the torso and limbs were both legitimate and did not entail excessive force. And if you wonder what an illegal arrest involving too much fome would look like, apparently that would mean being hit about the head after handcuffs had been applied. On such nice distinctions does the rule of law hang. This is but the latest in a long line of what have become known as Rodney King incidents. Named after the man whose violent arrest led to the LA riots 10 years ago, these centre on a number of of ricers beating the daylights out of a black suspect and, importantly, being caught on video doing so. And this week, a picture emerged of who is doing the filming. Until now, I had always assumed there are simply a large number of motorists driving round US cities with camcorders primed on the passenger seat, hoping to catch a car accident to send the resulting tape into America's Most Horrendous Smashes, whose attention is caught by a much more exciting bit of police brutality. But no. Step forward a figure called Brian Bates, who describes 7/19/02 Page 3 of 3 himself as a video vigilante. It was Bates who filmed the Oklahoma City cops applying the business end of their batons to Donald Pete's back. While the television bulletins have become ever more constricted by the offici al agenda - cameras sent to press conferences, media launches and PR events - Bates is actually out there looking for news. Let's hope he gets well paid for his efforts. To be fair, he struck lucky this time. And it would be reckoned an absurd waste of resources by the accountants who run television stations to send news crews out on a similar crime trawl when on most trips the only haul would be a couple of parking violations and the odd jumped red light. Even so, it is good to know Bates and his ilk are out there, doing the media's work for it, keeping the police on their toes. Although let's hope they are not too much on their toes. Because otherwise, the next time the police feel the need to beat up a black suspect, they will no doubt first check that th ere is not a Robin Hood of the electronic era skulking in a nearby car filming their efforts. And if they find him, they will probably go over and apply 27 baton blows to his lens. Not excessive force, remember, just those 27 hits. 7/19/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 10:26 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Police Brutality On Line Discussion Event through Amnesty USA POLICE BRUTALITY ONLINE EVENT July 22 - 26, 2002 Listen to live panels online as they discuss the impact of police brutality on minorities in the U.S., take action against international police brutality, and test your knowledge of the issues during this week long event. Sign up today to participate @ http://www.amnestyusa.org/cogntries/usa/police brutality/onlineevent.html Please share this information with others. 7/19/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 10:26 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Boston Officer Conley Loses Bid on Perjury Appeal Conley loses bid on perjury appeal By Thanassis Canlbanis, Globe Staff, 7/16/2002 Kenneth Conley, the lone Boston police officer convicted in connection with the brutal beating of a black undercover detective in 1995, should serve nearly three years in federal prison for a perjury conviction rather than receive a new trial, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled yesterday in a split decision. The decision could end the legal fight for Conley, whose lawyers argued in the case's third appearance before the appeals court that the government withheld key evidence. Given the refusal by the Supreme Court to hear the case, the only appeal left to Conley would be for a hearing before the full six-member court. Prosecutors never accused Conley of taking part in the beating, only of lying about whether he witnessed it. A coalition that includes Boston residents, police officers, and US Representative William D. Delahunt of Quincy has proclaimed Conley's innocence, contending that federal prosecutors scapegoated an innocent man because they never were able to catch the police officers who violently beat undercover detective Michael Cox during a chase. Conley was convicted by a federal jury in June 1998 and was sentenced to 34 months in prison. He has not served any jail time. In the latest decision, two of three members of a panel of the US appeals court ruled there was insufficient evidence to merit a new trial. They wrote that US Districf Judge Robert E. Keeton's decision to overturn the jury conviction was inconsistent and unsupported. But in a dissenting opinion, Chief Judge Michael Boudin wrote that "Conley may or not be guilty, but he is certainly jinxed." Either a district judge or an appeals court panel should examine Conley's arguments that new evidence, which surfaced after his trial, could exonerate him, Boudin wrote. Conley's defense lawyers can petition the full panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case. Because the chief judge dissented, the First Circuit is more likely to grant such a request, although it rarely does. "We are studying our options and will in all likelihood request further review by the full panel of the appeals court," said Robert S. Bennett, the high-powered Washington, D.C., lawyer who took on Conley's appeal pro bono. This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 7/16/2002. 7/19/02 Marian Kerr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 10:27 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Inglewood: Father Testifies; New Allegations; Sups Question Sheriff http J/www !at!mes.com/news/Iocal/la-me-ing!e 17ju!17 story?co!!=!a%2Dhead!ines%2 Dca!ifornia Father Testifies on Beating Inglewood: Lawyer details new allegations of youth's mistreatment at the hands of a deputy. Sheriff says he was unaware of the charges. By EVELYN LARRUBIA and STEVE BERRY TIMES STAFF WRITERS July 17 2002 Coby Chavis, the father of the 16-year-old beaten last week during a traffic stop in I nglewood, made new allegations Tuesday that his son had been mistreated by a sheriffs deputy as well as Inglewood police. Through his lawyer, Milton Grimes, Chavis gave his account immediately after testifying before grand jurors investigating the case. "Mr. Chavis just finished testifying before the grand jury, but we, I, cannot talk about his testimony" because of secrecy rules, Grimes told reporters. He then detailed what Chavis claims to have seen during the incident. According to Chavis' account, his son had complied with a deputy's order to sit in a patrol car, then stood when Inglewood police officers arrived. In response, Sheriffs Deputy Carlos Lopez choked Donovan Jackson, Grimes said. That, in turn, incited Inglewood police officers to beat the boy, Grimes said. A portion of the incident was caught on videotape, leading to a week of protests against alleged police misconduct in the case. Sheriff Lee Baca said Tuesday that he was unaware of allegations of wrongdoing by any deputies. Officials could not be reached for comment on specific allegations. Assistant Sheriff Dennis Dahlman provided the department's account to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, who asked him pointed questions about the case. Board members also criticized Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley for the arrest of the bystander who videotaped the incident. Although sheriffs deputies do not patrol in Inglewood, the officers were passing through the city when they "found it necessary to run the plate" from Chavis' car, Dahlman said. He added that he did not know the reason for running the license plate. VVhile deputies were talking to Chavis, who was stopped at an Inglewood gas station, Jackson returned from buying a bag of potato chips inside the market and tried to get into his father's car. In a report, Lopez wrote that he tried to get Jackson to stand back and ordered him to sit in his patrol car while his partner 7/19/02 Page 2 of 3 wrote Chavis a ticket. According to Lopez, Jackson did not reply or comply--a slow response which his family attributes to a hearing and speech impairment. Dahlman said lnglewood officers arrived on the scene at that point but did not get involved until they saw Jackson bump up against Lopez. The city officers took that as a much more threatening move than Lopez did, Dahlman said. Lopez said he "took him to the ground" and handcuffed the teenager, who struggled against him and the Inglewood o~iicers. Inglewood police reports indicate one Inglewood officer punched Jackson twice before he was handcuffed. The Sheriffs Department has been investigating the incident as a use of force, and interviews with deputies and witnesses so far have corroborated the written reports that deputies made about the incident, Dahlman told the Board of Supervisors. Sheriffs investigators are searching for other witnesses through credit card receipts and license plate numbers they are attempting to glean from the gas station's surveillance tape. That tape captured the entire altercation, but is of poor quality, Dahlman said. According to Chavis' account, he tried to go to his son after officers put Jackson on the ground. Chavis alleges officers took him to the ground, with one calling Chavis "the N-word," Grimes said. At that point, a bystander, Mitchell Crooks began taping the scene. His video caught Inglewood officers sla~nming the handcuffed youth against a police car and hitting him in the face. On Tuesday, supervisors requested weekly reports from the Sheriffs Department on the progress of the internal probe. FBi officials and the Justice Department also are investigating. Supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Gloria Molina also criticized Cooley for the decision to arrest Crooks Thursday after he failed to appear before the grand jury with his tape. Crooks, who was outside CNN's Los Angeles studios at the time, was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Placer County. "It is almost as horrifying as the tape Mr. Crooks took," Molina said of television images of the cameraman being shoved into a police car. She also criticized Cooley's refusal to discuss the case with the board. "All we have left is a tape showing his officers nearly roughing up this individual," she added. Burke added that she was stunned that "with the world watching ... our district attorney would get himself in that kind of a position, giving L.A. County a pretty bad name." In a letter to the board, Cooley defended his investigators, saying it would be a crime not to arrest someone sought on a warrant. "1 am completely satisfied with the conduct of the involved district attorney investigators. I am personally proud of their efforts," Cooley wrote. In an interview, Cooley insisted Crooks created the situation by refusing to honor a subpoena to appear before the grand jury unless prosecutors got Placer County to drop pending criminal charges of petty theft and drunk driving. Crooks is in jail in Placer County, and his lawyer did not return calls seeking comment. Supervisors also criticized what they called the failure of the Sheriffs Department to correct systemic problems. That failure has led to millions of dollars in lawsuits for strip seamhes at the county jail, improper use of force and other incidents by "bad apples," they said. "You're worried about your budget?" asked Burke, alluding to the department's deficit, now estimated at $60 million to $100 million. "This is your budget," she said, waving a two-inch-thick stack of papers, excessive-force lawsuits filed against the department last month alone. 7/19/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 10:19 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Recent Cases Suggest Code of Silence is Fading http~//www ~atimes~c~m/news/~ca!/~a~me-ecc~es22ju!22~st~ry?c~=~a% 2Dhead!ines% 2Dca!if~rn!a Recent Cases Suggest Code of Silenc Is Fading By ANNA GORMAN TIMES STAFF WRITER July 22 2002 Two months before Inglewood Police Officer Jeremy Morse was indicted in the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old boy, an officer in neighboring Manhattan Beach was charged with assaulting a young suspect. But unlike the incident in Inglewood, there were no videotapes, no rallies demanding justice, no mayors calling for felony charges and no allegations of racism. What spurred the criminal investigation in Manhattan Beach was other officers, who told supervisors they believed their colleague, Eric Eccles, had used excessive force. The police chief reviewed their reports and called the district attorney's office that day. The Manhattan Beach case, though it did not draw attention comparable to the Inglewood incident, illustrates the responsibility that officers have to watch one another-and to report to authorities when they see apparent misconduct by their colleagues. "1 did what I did because it's the right thing to do, even though it's a very difficult thing to do," said Sgt. Rob Cochran, a 12-year veteran who saw the incident and reported it. "But I have a responsibility, and I taw my responsibility wholeheartedly." The Los Angeles County Grand Jury indicted Eccles, a three-year Manhattan Beach police officer, in May on charges of assault by a public officer and filing a false police report. He was one of six law enforcement officers in the last two years to be indicted by the grand jury in connection with an assault or shooting, according to the district attorney's office. Eccles, who has pleaded not guilty, could face three years and eight months in state prison if convicted. Ecdes' attorney, Bill Seki, said his client is innocent on both charges, maintaining that the police report is accurate and that Daniel Chance resisted arrest. Seki cited grand jury testimony from another officer, Sgt. Mark Mason, who saw the end of the incident and described it as a struggle. "We believe that when we go to trial, the full facts of the case will come to light," he said. "It will become clear that what occurred that night was not unlawful conduct on my client's behalf." Seki said he believes the other officers misperceived the incident and that Eccles was the only one in a position to see exactly what happened. Because of controls put in place after the 1991 Rodney G. King beating and other high-profile shootings and beatings by officers across the country, police experts say, officers now usually report the use of force. In Inglewood, officers reported that the boy had been punched, though they did not include the fact that he had been slammed against a patrol car. But many police still aren't as willing to take the next step: to say they believe the force used by colleagues was inappropriate or excessive, experts say. That is changing, slowly, they add, because of stricter policies, har, lsher discipline, tighter supervision and the use of dashboard video monitors. Increasing ethnic and gender diversity in police forces has also cut away at the solidarity and old boys networks that used 7/22~02 Page 2 of 3 to prevail in many departments, experts add. And of course, there is the lingering fear that any action may be videotaped or observed by a neighbor, and that an officer may be targeted in a misconduct probe. "[Reporting] is becoming more common for many reasons, most significantly because it's much harder to cover up," said William Geller, a criminologist who worked for the U.S. Department of Justice studying police use of deadly force. "Nobody knows when they might be on candid camera.... Even if you don't have a video camera, you have a public that has a heightened sensitivity." LAPD Capt. Gregory Meyer, who testified before the grand jury in the Manhattan Beach case, said some officers are inspired to do the right thing, while others just don't want to lose their jobs. "When push comes to shove, people act in their self-interest," said Meyer, who often serves as an expert witness on the use of police force. "But they are also realizing that it is in their self-interest to cooperate with investigators." Departments still have a long way to go, some say, before it becomes business as usual for officers to report unreasonable use of force. "The code of silence is real," said Assistant Head Deputy Dist. Atty. John Gilligan, who presented the Eccles case to the grand jury. "We've certainly seen people who have been retaliated against for stepping forward." The Manhattan Beach incident occurred just after midnight Dec. 29, when Ecclee and another officer pulled over a car on Rosecrans Avenue, according to testimony given to the grand jury. As the other officer gave the driver a ticket for fishtailing his car while speeding, Chance took off running. He told grand jurors that he was worried that he would lose his job as a heavy-equipment operator trainee because he had been drinking and was under 21. Eccles ran after Chance, saying: "When I find this guy, he is going to do a tap dance," implying a use of force, according to a fellow officer's grand jury testimony. Chance climbed over a fence and hid in a dark backyard, crouching beneath a deck. When Eccles saw Chance's knee sticking up from under a piece of plywood, he approached him but did not order him to stand up or come out from under the deck, prosecutors said. Instead, without warning, Eccles lifted the plywood and repeatedly hit Chance with a heavy metal flashlight for about 15 seconds, striking his legs, arms, head and back of the neck, according to grand jury testimony from Chance and Eccles' fellow officers. Chance did not have any weapons and did not try to resist arrest, officers testified. Officer Joe Guzman, who saw the incident, testified that he believed at the time that Eccles was "delivering these blows unnecessarily." But he did not intervene until several seconds later, according to his testimony. At one point, Sgt. Cochran yelled to Guzman to get Eccles off the suspect. Only then did Eccles begin yelling to Chance, "Stop resisting. Show me your hands," his fellow officers testified. Chance was arrested and taken to a hospital and into police custody, but no charges were filed against him. "Other than being stupid, [Chance] didn't do anything wrong that night," Gilligan told grand jurors, adding t~t~_t Chance had no criminal record. "He ran from a police officer, and what he got was some good old-fashioned street justice." In Eccles' report on the incident, he wrote that he had hit Chance once with his flashlight in a reactive strike. His colleagues, however, reported a different version to their supervisors that morning. Guzman, Cochran and Sgt. Mason ali wrote statements about what occurred. "The reason why I did it was because it's required," Mason said. "1 wear the stripes and I realize that's part of my duties." Mason, who has been in law enforcement for 15 years, said he could have faced serious disciplinary action had he not reported the incident. "There was really no decision-making on my part," he said. "Things that were condoned years ago are no longer tolerated." By late that Saturday morning, Manhattan Beach Police Chief Ernest M. Klevesahl Jr. had read the reports and met with the supervisor. A few hours later, Klevesahl placed Eccles on administrative leave and called the district attorney's office to tell them about the case and schedule a meeting for that Monday. "It was something that needed immediate action, at least to get the ball rolling," Klevesahl said. Gilligan said that getting involved early made a significant difference in the quality of the criminal investigafion because prosecutors could get fresh statements and keep them separate from the administrative investigation. 7/22/02 Page 3 of 3 Gilligan said prosecutors were ready to present the case to the grand jury as early as February, but had scheduling conflicts with the witnesses. Klevesahl said he was able to respond quickly because the department is small, with 64 sworn officers. At the same time, he said, the size of the department makes it even more difficult for officers to report wha~hey believe is misconduct. Like neady all police departments, Manhattan Beach has policies and training on the use of fome, reporting and ethical responsibilities. Klevesahl instructs officers to document any instance in which they use force on a suspect and fellow officers to report what they believe is inappropriate. Then he makes the final call "That's part of the checks and balances of a department," he said. "Not everybody is perfect, and we make mistakes, but think we do a pretty good job of policing ourselves. We have to." If you want other stories on this topic, seamh the Archives at latimes.com/archives. 7/22/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Marilyn Head [corpus@evl.net] Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 11:27 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; Physicians for Social Responsibility, Wayne Shandera; ProTex list serve; Rainbow Houston; NACOLE; NAACP; Am-Arab Anti-Dis Corn; ACLU Houston Chapter Subject: POLICE SHOOTINGS Houston Chronicle Date: SUN 07/21/02 Section: OUTLOOK POLICE SHOOTINGS/More work needed on f'mding nonlethal solutions Staff Police work is stressful and often dangerous and unpleasant. Police and other law enforcement officers have a right to protect themselves and a duty to use force when justified to protect the public, but they have a responsibility to avoid preventable harm to citizens, even those suspected of committing a crime. Unfortunately, law enforcement officers make mistakes and sometimes abuse the power of their badges. It is unlikely thatall the 36 police shootings that occur in a typical year in Harris County are unavoidable or, as Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said, "inevitable." Officers involved in the three shootings in recent days say they acted in self-defense, yet some witnesses are skeptical of their claims. Investigators for the district attorney, Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriffs Department must try to reconcile conflicting accounts of these fast-moving, confusing, violent incidents. In the shooting death of Christopher Menifee Monday night by Harris County sheriffs deputy Wallace Wyatt, the facts have not been established. Authorities first said Menifee climbed into a car and tried to run down Wyatt. The car's driver, an acquaintance of the deceased and mother ora 2-year-old in the car, disputes this. Wyatt said he fired when he thought Menifee was hijacking the Car. Internal affairs investigators and prosecutors are obligated to determine the truth in this and other shootings expeditiously, for the sake of all involved, including the officers. When he ran for election, Rosenthal promised to seek an indictment of any officer who committed a crime, but his practice has been to submit such cases to the grand jury without charges. Since grand jury deliberations are secret, in some cases the public never learns what really happened. In one case, Baytown police investigators never interviewed witnesses before clearing officers who choked an innocent man to death while arresting him. Even if all the police shootings and beatings and slayings in Harris County each year are legally justified, law enforcement agencies should work unceasingly to lower the number, especially in cases in which the suspects are unarmed, sick or deranged - or just nervous, frightened or angry at being confronted by police. Houston's residents speak scores of languages, and inability to understand police orders 7/23/02 frequently leads to tragedy. By combining better officer training and greater availability of nonlethal weaponry, such as weapons that temporarily immobilize through electric shock, slayings and serious injuries at the hands of the police could be significantly reduced. Lives could be saved instead of needlessly or tragically lost. That will require innovative leaders at the top levels of law enforcemem and adequate funding to buy the necessary number of nonlethal weapons. More police are on the streets today protecting the public. That's what the public wants. But the increased number of law enfomement officers on our streets should not produce corresponding increases in the number of police shootings and other violent encounters with citizens. Page 2 of 2 INDEPENDENT CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT/INVESTIGATIONS OF POLICE SHOOTINGS "Remember: if you load it down with restraints, checks, balances, review, oversight or any of that prissy constitutional stuff...the terrorists win." Clyde P. Houston, Chronicle cartoonist 7/23/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Pieme Murphy [LPMurphy@cityofboise.org] Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 8:48 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Brazil: Sao Paulo State Police Ombudsman Investigates 400 Civilians Killed By Police From Reuters, July 22, 2002: Brazil at Pains to Turn Page on Police Impunity By Mary Milliken SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Silvia Ferreira Giordano's only son was just a normal, soccer-loving Brazilian teen-ager when he was picked up by police after a fight on a summer night. Four policemen decided to kill Thiago Ferreira, 17, and two friends after they mistakenly beat one of the boys unconscious. Betting on impunity and fear of witnesses, they shot all three in the head and dumped them in a mangrove swamp. The bodies were found 16 days later and Ferreira was identified by the braces on his teeth. Three years later, all four policemen have been sentenced to between 52 and 59 years in prison, including the senior officer convicted in June. "Police believe they are feared and therefore act as they wish," says Giordano, 41. "Maybe we have shown that if people speak up, they will have to learn to treat us correctly, within the law, without authoritarianism and barbarity." Having secured one of the few convictions of police officers in Brazil, Giordano has the right to be hopeful. But crime experts, rights activists and even government officials say Latin America's largest nation is at pains to make progress against police impunity. The federal government's human rights secretary, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, says point-blank: "We have a serious problem with summary executions." He puts the annual number in the hundreds, for which he pins most blame on the 27 states, which have their own police forces and court systems. Most of the victims are poor and lack a local support network. When there are prosecutions, they are often influenced by international condemnation and foreign activists. Two months ago, a jury sentenced two police commanders to up to 228 years in prison for the 1996 killings of 19 peasants in the northern state of Para. But another 153 policemen were acquitted in the incident known as the Eldorado dos Carajas massacre. A year ago, the police commander who ordered the massacre of 111 7/23/02 inmates during the 1992 uprising in Sao Paulo's Carandiru prison complex was sentenced to 632 years in prison, although he awaits his appeal at home while he runs his security company. CIVILIAN DEATHS RISING "There have been small steps forward," says Tim Cahill, who tracks Brazil for London-based rights group Amnesty International. "But we have to be realistic about the scale of the problem. It is still increasing and police investigations that go into these cases are seriously flawed." Cahill traveled through Brazil this year trying to raise information on civilians who have died in extra-judicial executions. "My main concern is that the majority of cases never get investigated because there are not people campaigning on their behalf and supporting the families," he says. Amnesty recognizes that most policemen in Brazil are poorly paid and unequipped to do their jobs effectively. But statistics show they are nevertheless quick to kill. In Sao Paulo state, where 37 million of Brazil's 170 million people live, police killed 837 civilians in 2000, around three times more than police in the United States, with its population of 278 million. Of the 400 or so deaths investigated by the state police ombudsman, 22 percent of the victims were not involved in any criminal activity. The ombudsman declared in his report on civilian deaths in 2000 that "the use of lethal fome was indiscriminate and not in keeping with the aims outlined by the United Nations or police commanders." In Sao Paulo's military police, the main police body organized with military-like discipline, public relations officer Col Eliseu Leite de Moraes says there is no impunity and each suspected case of unlawful death is fully investigated. "The number of civilians killed is high, but the number of police killed is too," he says. And the numbers show civilian deaths by police keep rising in 2002, an election year in which violence ranks high on the list of society's gripes. After a spate of heinous crimes and high-profile kidnappings in Sao Paulo state early in the year, civilian killings by police are up 26 pement in the first six months from a year ago to 387, a figure the ombudsman calls "alarming." Police deaths rose 33 percent to 69. In a single operation to foil a heist at an airport, police killed 12 men who were allegedly members of the criminal faction First Command of the Capital. Eleven of the 12 had bullet wounds in the head, prompting accusations of execution, but investigations have not incriminated police. Page 2 of 3 7/23/02 Page 3 of 3 BRAZIL NEEDS SEVERAL DIALLOS "Whenever there is talk in Brazil that police are acting with more rigor, this means they are arresting and killing more," says Luis Antonio de Souza, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo's Nucleus of Violence Studies. Today, Brazilians are understandably weary after three decades of spiraling violence and want police to be tough. And the policemen themselves, many who come from the lower classes, may not have seen much justice in their lives. "They think that with so much impunity, it may not be worth arresting," says Souza. "They are likely to share that vision that good justice is immediate justice." Souza says Brazil will need "many individuals" like Amadou Diallo, the unarmed African immigrant shot 41 times by New York policemen in 1999 in a case that sparked outrage. Police brutality is again on the U.S. radar this month after a 16-year-old black youth was beaten by a Los Angeles policeman -- a news item replayed widely in Brazil. Meanwhile, an extraordinary conviction of police at home got much less press. Sao Paulo newspapers carried a few paragraphs on the last trial of Thiago Ferreira's killers, a far cry from the from-page stories at the time of the murder of the three boys, none of whom had criminal records. Prosecutor Walfredo Cunha Campos complains of the scant interest, but is encouraged by news that the case is taught as the "true anti-example" at the Sao Paulo state police academy. His next task is to take two policemen to trial for the deaths of four kids and an adult in a bar last September. "There are 100,000 military police in Sao Paulo state, the population of a medium-sized city," says Campos. "Unfortunately there are groups of sadists who commit these horrors and kill innocent people hoping that they will get offwith impunity." Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. 7/23/02 Marian Karr Page ! of 1 From: kelvyn.anderson @phila.gov Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 8:56 AM To: update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] State cops blamed in trooper sex attacks This Story has been sent to you by: kelvyn.anderson~phila.gov State cops blamed in trooper sex attacks BREAKDOWNS IN state police hiring and discipline allowed a sexual predator to patrol subur The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time: http://www.philly~o_m/rald/philly/news/3716692.htm (c) 2001 philly and wire service sources. Ail Rights Reserved. Update mailing list Update~nacole.org http://gamma.j umpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org 7/23/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Malvina Monteiro [mmonteiro@ci.cambridge.ma.us] Tuesday, July 23, 2002 9:43 AM Sonya Pence; Sue Quinn; Leslie English No charge filed in shooting Family seeks data on police killing By Gloria Rodriguez, Globe Correspondent, Globe Staff, 7/23/2002 CAMBRIDGE - The Middlesex district attorney's office said yesterday that no charges will be filed against the police officer who fatally shot a mentally ill man in the basement of his Cambridge house after he allegedly attacked police with a hatchet. ''We have determined that the use of lethal force by the Cambridge police was justified in this instance,'' said John McEvoy, first assistant district attorney. ''Our office has found no evidence that any criminal statute was violated.'' Four officers from the Cambridge Rapid Response Team went to Daniel Furtado's home on Porter Street. on July 15 after he cut his neighbor's cable and telephone wires. Furtado, 59, who suffered from a bipolar disorder and had stopped taking his medication, greeted officers with a hatchet and could not be talked out of the house, police said. After a three-hour standoff, neighbors said police threw a percussion grenade through Furtado's bathroom window and stormed the house. Prosecutors said that Furtado twice attacked the officers with the hatchet and was fatally shot. Though the district attorney's office reviewed the case for a week and has closed its investigation, authorities refused to release any information to the family yesterday about events that preceded the shooting or the reason officers stormed the house. Cambridge police have referred all questions to the district attorney's office. In a press release yesterday, the district attorney's office said only that officers ''attempted nonlethal alternatives to disarm Furtado.'' Emily LaGrassa, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said that only one of the four officers inside the house fired a weapon. The officer fired three shots, all of which hit Furtado, LaGrassa said. None of the officers was hurt. Yesterday, Furtado's daughter, Helena Martins, pleaded for the Cambridge Police Department and district attorney to give the family more information. ''We need and deserve to know why things went so wrong, who is responsible, and why my father is dead,'' said Martins, who wants access to police reports and autopsy results. ''At this point, I just want to know what happened inside,'' she said, while her mother Natalia, also dressed in black for mourning, sat on the next door neighbor's porch steps, crying. William Hunt, the family's lawyer, restated the family's contention that Furtado, who had arthritis, could not have raised a hatchet above his head in the small basement where he was shot because the ceiling is too low. Hunt said law enforcement officials should have found a better way to deal with Furtado. ''When you see how small the house is, how confined the space is, you can see how easily Mr. Furtado could have been contained,'' he said. Hunt said the family was considering a wrongful death suit, as well as charging the city with violating Furtado's civil rights. Douglas Belkin of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. This story ran on page B2 of the Boston Globe on 7/23/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 2:02 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] DARE Officer Charged with Dealing Club Drugs DARE officer charged with dealing club drugs Bergen [NJ] Record July 22, 2002By NICOLE GAUDIANO Staff Writer A DARE officer who spent the past year warning elementary school students about the dangers of drugs was arrested at his home over the weekend. The charge: selling drugs. Narcotics investigators with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office on Friday seized 414 Ecstasy pills and 50 bottles of ketamine, an animal tranquilizer known as "Special K," from the home of Michael Hurley, 32, an eight-year veteran of the Bayonne Police Department, Bergen Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said. Both are party drugs, commonly taken at trendy nightclubs by young people. Also arrested was Hurley's housemate, Bruce Piechocki, 30, a three-year patrol veteran of the same department, on a charge of third-degree official misconduct. He did not participate in the alleged sa[es but lives with Hurley on Fifth Street in Bayonne and should have known about the illegal activity, Molinelli said. Bayonne Police Director Mark Smith said he and the school superintendent plan to monitor the students' reaction to the news when they return to school in September. If the children seem to be left asking questions, he said, "We will map out a strategy to explain to these kids that this particular DARE officer made a mistake, made choices that are wrong, and will pay the consequences." Both of the officers turned in their weapons and were suspended without pay Friday. Smith said there will be an internal hearing this week to present them with "a litany" of departmental charges. "This is in no way indicative of this police department," he said. "We don't condone it." The investigation began last week when Bergen County narcotics detectives got a tip from an informant that Hurley was selling drugs. The original undercover drug purchases were to take place in Rutherford, but the location changed at the last minute to Hurley's home in Bayonne, Molinelli said. Late Thursday, the detectives purchased Ecstasy from Hurley at his two-family home, he said. The detectives notified the Hudson County Prosecuto¢s Office of their investigation and returned Friday afternoon for another purchase. That time, they bought 75 Ecstasy pills from Hurley, he said. Hurley was arrested without incident and charged with Ecstasy possession with the intent to distribute, Ecstasy distribution, ketamine possession with the intent to distribute, and drug distribution within 1,000 feet of a school. He was taken to the Bergen County Jail and released Saturday on $50,000 bail. Piechocki was released on his recognizance. They will be prosecuted in Hudson County. Molinelli said the investigation came about quickly and detectives are trying to determine whether Hurley was selling drugs in Bergen County. Speaking on his son's behalf, Hurley's father declined to comment on the charges, saying it was "premature" to do so. Michael Hurley Sr., who is retired as a captain of the Bayonne Police Department, resigned in 1999 after investigators videotaped him delivering newspapers on the midnight shift from his marked patrol car, a police source said. Commonly known as the "hug drug," Ecstasy is a stimulant that strips its users of their inhibitions and pumps up the heart 7/23/02 Page 2 of 2 rate and blood pressure. It can also produce blurred vision, fainting, chills, sweating, muscle tension, and disorientation, warns the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Web site. Special K can act as a hallucinogen and is known to produce dreamlike states. The drug impairs motor functions, elevates blood pressure, and causes respiratory problems. ' Nicole Gaudiano's e-mail address is gaudianon@northjersey.com 7/23/02 Marian Kart From: Sent: To: Subject: beth.pittinger@city, pittsburgh.pa.us Wednesday, July 24, 2002 8:53 AM Update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] This news story was sent to you by request This news story has been sent to you from post-gazette.com, the online edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The sender supplied the information below. A reply to this message will be directed to the sender. Name: Pittinger E-mail: beth.pittinger@city.pittsburgh.pa.us Message: Click here: http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20020724reviewboard4.asp http://www.post-gazette.com Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 10:33 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Miami: Advice to Police Chief: Build Trust Posted on Tue, Jul. 23, 2002 Miami Herald I ~,__ Advice to police chief: Build trust BY JUDY ODIERNA jodierna@herald.com Regain the trust of the citizens. That was the message that city commissioners sent to Miami Police Chief Raul Martinez on Monday. "This department is plagued by a bad history," Commissioner Joe Sanchez said. "It only takes one or two to mess it up for everyone. To earn the public trust back is very important. If you don't have their trust, we are going to fail as a department, and you are going to fail as a chief." The sparsely attended workshop was requested by Commissioner Arthur Teele Jr.. to discuss ways to prohibit incidents such as the "throw-down cases," which led to the indictment of 13 Miami officers charged with planting weapons and lying to cover up questionable shootings. Those indictments have led community activists to push for a Civilian Investigative Panel that would look into allegations of police misconduct. Sanchez had several more suggestions Monday on what Martinez needed to do with his department. They included: · Building up the department's morale. · Moving the internal affairs department out of the police station to encourage residents to make complaints. · Conducting an efficiency study by outside experts. Martinez said some of Sanchez's suggestions are underway. A resolution to move the internal affairs department and a request for qualifications to conduct the efficiency study will come before the commission Thursday. "I'm ready to try to help the image of the police department," Commissioner Tom~s Regalado said. To do this, Martinez "has to be more proactive with the problems. Yes, it's painful to say we have a problem and these are the people responsible, but it has to be done and done immediately." Sanchez was particularly troubled by statistics released in a police presentation involving the number of cases in which Miami officers used force during an arrest. According to the numbers presented by Martinez, between 1998 and 2001, citizens reported excessive use of force in 458 cases. After an investigation, the number of cases in which the use of force was warranted was eight. "You mean to tell me the number of substantiated cases is 1 percent?" Sanchez asked. "If I bring any chief from any department, they would not be comfortable with these numbers. I can see it in 7/29/02 your face you are not comfortable, either." Martinez later said he plans to check the figures. "1 think there is a mistake in the numbers," he said. Page 2 of 2 7/29/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 10:33 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Pitt: Judge Rules Review Bd can't compel Testimony Judge rules police review board can't compel testimony Tuesday, July 23, 2002 By Jan Ackerman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Staff Writer A judge has ruled that the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board cannot compel testimony from police officers by granting them immunity from having their statements used in other investigations.The ruling by Common Pleas Judge Joseph M. James came in a case brought by the review board to determine whether the mayor and police chief were obligated to order officers to cooperate with the board's investigations. The review board's executive director, Elizabeth C. Pittinger, said the board will review the ruling at its meeting tonight and didn't know whether it will appeal."AII the board is seeking to do is make sure that the officer has the opportunity to put their story on the record," she said. "That is fair play."The review board was created five years ago by referendum to investigate misconduct complaints against police. But officers called to testify have routinely refused to do so. Police union officials have cited the officers' constitutional protection against self-incrimination.At issue in the suit was whether Mayor Tom Murphy and Police Chief Robert McNeilly Jr. were obligated to order officers to testify before the review board in exchange for immunity. Pittinger said the board has ample legal power to subpoena police officers and records to conduct its investigations but the issue of whether it has the legal authority to grant what is called "Garrity protection" has never been addressed. Garrity protection guarantees officers that what they say in an internal investigation cannot be used against them in a criminal proceeding. In November 2000, the review board sued Murphy, McNeilly and the Fraternal Order of Police to clarify that issue. Pittinger said the mayor and chief's position was that issuing Garrity protections was a discretionary act and they could not be compelled to do so. Pittinger said the board argued that if McNeilly gave the Garrity protection to an officer during an inquiry by the Office of Municipal Investigations, the city's internal investigative agency, then the officer should get it during a review board probe. At tonight's meeting, the review board also is likely to discuss a revised police policy on access to police reports.Yesterday, police announced that incident or offense reports will be available to the public and news media at the city police zone stations. To protect police investigations, the reports will not include investigative information about witnesses or intelligence information. The announcement revises a previous policy that drew criticism because it listed certain newspaper reporters who could have access to police incident reports at zone stations."l saw the revision and I think it is appropriate. It is the way it should have always been," Pittinger said. 7/29/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 10:33 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Denver Mayor to Keep [Police] Secret Files July 22, 2002 Las Vegas Sun Denver Mayor to Keep Secret Files DENVER- Mayor Wellington Webb said Monday he would ignore an independent panel's recommendation to destroy secret police files of political activists, adhering to a request from civil rights advocates. The American Civil Liberties Union disclosed the existence of the police files in March and sued the city to preserve the documents until questions were answered about why they were kept. "They definitely document police misconduct," said Mark Silverstein, ACLU executive director. "We need to know why police regarded peaceful political protests as crime scenes." Webb received recommendations from a panel of three former judges who found that none of the 3,200 files on individuals or 208 files on organizations met legal standards of reasonable standards of criminal activities. A member of the American Friends Service Committee, a Philadelphia-based Quaker group that has won the Nobel Peace Prize, was among those in the files. Panel member Roger Cisneres, a retired Denver judge, said police wrongly labeled political groups as extremists because they were believed to have caused problems in other cities. The mayor agreed with the judges that the flies should be removed from the police computer system, and that individuals and organizations mentioned in them should be allowed to see what was written. Webb spokesman Andrew Hudson said steps were underway to ensure police keep the files only when there is reasonable suspicion of possible criminal activity. 7/29/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 1:56 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Northern Ireland Ombudsman's First Annual Report Issued TUESDAY 23/07/02 16:29:53 Ombudsman's first annual report Almost 13,000 people contacted the office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland during its first year-and-a-half in operation, it emerged today. A total of 5,129 complaints of police misconduct were made following 12,500 telephone conversations and 1,500 visits. Almost half of. these complaints related to allegations of oppressive conduct, such as assault, while 23% were allegations of failure of duty and 14% alleged incivility and rudeness. The police ombudsman initiated more than 2,300 investigations during this period. However, Nuala O'Loan revealed that her staff dealt with more than 2,400 complaints without resorting to official investigations. She said: "While many people were upset about their interaction with certain police officers, in reality all some wanted was an explanation as to why the officer acted as they did. "We were able to resolve such issues without the need for a full investigation, which could have been stressful for both the person making the complaint and for the officer concerned." The statistics are contained in the organisation's first annual report which was presented to the Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid today. The document, which covers its first 17 months of work, also gave a break down of independent research, which found 83% of Catholics and 75% of Protestants believed the ombudsman's office would treat them fairly. "This is a terribly important statistic for me," said Mrs O'Loan. "My office strives above all else to be independent and impartial. It has been a very busy time for us and I take comfort from the fact that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland now seem to know that we will treat them fairly." Mrs O'Loan also called for her office to be granted increased powers of mediation in order to have more complaints dealt with at an early stage. "The current legislation regarding informal resolution and mediation is very prescriptive and neither meets the needs of the officer complained of nor the complainant," she said. "1 believe that the system needs to be more flexible to allow for the speedy resolution of less serious matters." Upon receipt of the report, Dr Reid paid tribute to the work of the police ombudsman and her staff. 7/29/02 Page 2 of 2 He added: "Like many others I will want to consider carefully what the report says, but would emphasise that the government's support for an independent police complaints system reflects our commitment to ensuring the highest standards of policing for Northern Ireland." 7/29/02 From: hector.w.soto@phila.gov <hector.w.soto@phila.gov> To: hector.w.soto@phila.gov <hector.w.soto@phila.gov> Date: Thursday, July 25, 2002 9:33 AM Subject: NYTimes.com Article: P.B.A. Names Black Officer to No. 3 Post Page 1 of 4 This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by hector,w,soto@phi!a,gov. P.B.A, Names Black Officer to No. 3 Post July 25, 2002 By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which has often played a divisive role in the Police Department's sometimes difficult relations with minority communities around the city, has for the first time elevated an African-American officer to the union's five-member governing board. The officer, Mubarak Abdul-Jabbar, 46, who joined the force in 1983, will be elevated to the No. 3 position in the union, succeeding the second vice president, John Loud, a respected 61-year-old officer and Iongtime delegate who led a reform movement in the union. The appointment was made by Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the 22,800-member union, and it was announced at a board meeting on Tuesday, union officials said. Officer Lynch said he was appointing Officer AbduI-Jabbar to the post because of his experience - 14 years on patrol and nearly 18 years as a union delegate or official. But in a union that critics have long viewed as a catalyst for the hostility between the police and the black and Latino communities, his ascension to the executive board is perhaps one of several portents of change, albeit a small one, For decades, many black and Hispanic officers have viewed the union with suspicion and complained that it has failed to represent their interests as aggressively as it does white officers in issues like disciplinary hearings and helping them win desirable assignments. The union has come under particular criticism for being too quick to defend 7/29/02 white officers accused of brutality against minorities. Those feelings have drawn black and Latino officers to activist fraternal groups, like 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement Who Care, The Guardians Association and the Latino Officers Association, which have often been critical of the department and the union. The concerns among some minority officers grew after the investigation of the police torture of Abner Louima in a Brooklyn station house bathroom, when prosecutors accused some union officials of conspiring to cover up the assault. Mr. Louima, a Haitian immigrant, sued not only the city and the Police Department, winning a $7.125 million settlement, but also the union, which paid $1.625 million. It was believed to be the first time a police union anywhere in the country paid to settle a brutality case. But in an interview yesterday at the union's Financial District offices, Officer Abdul-Jabbar said that his appointment should send a clear signal not just to black officers who feel alienated from their union, but to all New Yorkers. "To the disenfranchised officer, this is obviously an opportunity," he said, adding of the upper echelon of the union: "It's no longer the forbidden ground." He said the P.B.A. was seeking to make changes so that the union - and the department - would be more reflective of the city that its members patrol. As of June 30, before the recent class of recruits entered the Police Academy, about 64 percent of the department's roughly 39,000 officers were white, 14 percent were black and 19 percent Hispanic, according to police figures. "We are not the occupying force or the enemy," he said, "we are here to police for the citizenry of New York and to make New York a safe and better place of us to raise our kids." Officer AbduI-Jabbar lives in the Bronx and he noted that four of the union's five top board members lived in the city. Jim Curran, a former city police officer and the dean of special projects at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the appointment to fill out the last 11 months of Officer Loud's elected term suggested that the union was making a commitment to greater diversity. "It's a wonderful step," he said. "1 think to the extent that this shows a natural progress of change in the organization, it's very positive." Officer AbduI-Jabbar, a practicing Muslim, is a tall, trim man with an easy smile. He seems as comfortable in the navy Page 2 of 4 7/29/02 blue suit and tie of a union official as he was in the Transit Police uniform he wore patrolling the subways in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. After growing up in Harlem and the South Bronx, he attended Hunter College for one year. With the help of a scholarship, he attended Columbia University for two years, but left school to work as a clerk in a law firm to support a growing family, he said. A few years later, he joined the Transit Authority Police and quickly became active in the union, he said. When the Transit and Housing Police Departments merged into the larger N.Y.P.D. in 1995, he continued to serve as a delegate. Within a year, he became a member of the P.B.A.'s lower board, representing the transit officers, most of whom worked in a newly created Transit Bureau. Yesterday he was quick to note that change does not come overnight. "We're not going to eradicate the racial injustice of society overnight or the perception of racial injustice overnight," he said, "but we are - by example - showing that we recognize that we are dealing with the real issues that exist and that qualified people in this organization get the qualified positions, pure and simple." Officer Loud, a veteran patrolman and union insurgent who served 30 of his 33 years in the department on patrol is stepping down from his position as he nears retirement age. Officer Loud alternately wrestled with suspects and previous union administrations, which he had labeled corrupt or incompetent for letting a group of lawyers eventually convicted of federal racketeering charges handle the union's finances. Officer Loud ultimately joined forces with Officer Lynch, and they were part of a team elected to head the union in 1999. During the campaign, Officer Loud began reaching out to minority communities, visiting churches in black and Hispanic neighborhoods in an effort, he said at the time, to show the city's hard-working people that the police were there to protect them. But while several black officers and supervisors interviewed yesterday praised the new appointment; they also remained skeptical about changes inside the union, and speaking privately, raised questions about the future. "It's a sign of change and progress," said one supervisor. "However, the P.B.A. has a long way to go before they can be declared a progressive organization." http:llwww, nytimes.com120021071251nyregion125PBA.html? Page 3 of 4 7/29/02 ex=1028607275&ei=1&en=bb04cb7cb76bcb0b Page 4 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 onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http:/Iwww.nytimes.comladinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company 7/29/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Malvina Monteiro [mmonteiro@ci.cambridge.ma.us] Thursday, July 25, 2002 2:58 PM Malvina Monteiro; Leslie English; Sue Quinn Family, neighbors blame death on cops July 23, 2002 Family, neighbors blame death on cops Portuguese coum~unity says prejudice a factor By DEBORAH EISNER CHRONICLE STAFF STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL MANNING William Hunt, attorney for the Furtado family, demonstrates the difficulty of swinging a hatchet in the cramped quarters of Daniel Furtado's basement Monday. He is flanked by members of the Boston media. Outraged members of East Cambridge's Portuguese community say prejudice played a role in the death of a 59-year-old Daniel Furtado, who was gunned down by police last week. "I am scared now to live in Cambridge,'' Laura Guimaraes, a Portuguese woman who has lived in East Cambridge for 40 years said this week. "I don't trust the police anymore,'' she added. "I hear from so many Portuguese that they are so afraid, " Furtado, a Portuguese native who had lived in the United States for more than 30 years, was shot three times after he allegedly attacked police officers with a hatchet following a four-hour stand off on July 15. Police were called to Furtado's Porter Street home that morning, after he allegedly cut his neighbor's telephone and cable wires. Armed with a hatchet the size of a household hammer, the elderly man had barricaded himself in his home. Officials and family members say Furtado had suffered from bipolar disorder and had stopped taking his medication. After deploying a stun grenade, four members of the Cambridge Rapid Response Team forced their way into Furtado's home. Police confronted Furtado in his basement, where he was shot to death after allegedly attacking officers with the hatchet. Neighbors say Furtado's death is the latest example of the Police Department 's bias against the city's Portuguese community. "I can't believe they killed him in cold blood,'' Guimaraes said, "The police is supposed to protect people. " Two time City Council candidate and former Cambridge resident Helder "Sonny "Peixoto also said he is certain Furtado's heritage played a role in his death. "I find it very unique that only one officer shot, and yet he shot multiple times, "said Peixoto, an MBTA officer. "I would say that the Cambridge police are racist toward people of Portuguese background. Both Guimaraes and Peixoto said they have heard the same concerns expressed by other members of the Portuguese community who are too afraid to speak out against the authorities for fear of retaliation. The Cambridge Police would not comment on the allegations of bias and 1 prejudice. "Because the city has already been placed on notice of a potential law suit in this matter, it would not be appropriate for me to make further comment on the details involved in the over three hour sequences of events that concluded in this tragic manner, "said City Manager Robert Healy in a statement released by the Police Department. No charges will be sought against the police officer involved in the shooting, said the Middlesex District Attorney's office on Monday. "After a thorough investigation by our office into the circumstances surrounding the death of Daniel Furtado, we have determined that the use of lethal force by the Cambridge police was justified in this instance, "said John McEvoy, first assistant district attorney. Only one of the four officers in the basement fired his handgun, said Emily Lagrassa, spokeswoman for the DA's office. The police are not releasing the name or length of service of the officer who pulled the trigger. They would also not say if any disciplinary action was taken against the officer following the incident. Furtado's family is not satisfied that the District Attorney's investigation was impartial, said their attorney, William Hunt, at a press conference outside the family home Monday morning. He accused the DA's office of simultaneously acting as a spokesman for the Cambridge Police Department and running the investigation into the shooting. Since the shooting, spokesmen for the Cambridge Police Department have deferred all of the Chronicle's requests for information to the District Attorney's office. Hunt's queries also have been re-routed. " I have been in contact with the United States Attorney's Office and I have asked the United States Attorney's Office to open up its own investigation into this and to see if, indeed, Mr. Furtado's civil rights were violated, because in the final analysis Mr. Furtado was in his own home, by himself, and he was shot in his own home by the Cambridge police, "Hunt said. Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, declined to comment on whether Sullivan will get involved. The family is also considering filing a civil law suit against the department, Hunt said. Furtado's daughter, Helena Martins, 31, of Medford, publicly asked the Police Department and the District Attorney's office to provide her family with answers to questions such as who shot her father and what happened in the basement that led up to the shooting. "There was no need to storm the house, "she said. "We firmly believe this is an unforgivable turn of events, and we want answers to our questions. We want access to the autopsy report, the police reports and any other information. We deserve to know why things went so wrong, who is responsible, and why my father is dead. " Martins described her father as a sweet, caring man who often babysat her 14-month-old daughter and 6-year-old son when he was taking his medication. When Furtado went off the Depekote, his anti-mania medicine, he was a different man altogether, she said, but he was never violent toward anyone but himself. Martins said she wanted to know why the police were unable to subdue her father last Monday, when they have been able to do so when called to the house in the past. She estimated that the police have responded to calls about her father about a dozen times during the last 30 years. According to information released by the Middlesex District Attorney's 2 office, Furtado was shot and killed in his basement during an assault on a police officer. Hunt questioned how much danger the officers could have been in given the cramped quarters of the basement. "If he came at someone with an ax like this on the upstroke, "Hunt said, making an overhead chopping motion, "it would hit the ceiling. " Hunt filed a Freedom of Information Act request yesterday asking for copies of all police reports and investigative materials. After review of those documents he and the Furtado family will determine what course of action, if any, to take next. Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, July 26, 2002 1:31 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] MI: Genesee County Considers Police Review Bd to Improve Relations Genesee Co MICHIGAN: Citizens police review board mulled to improve relations July 26, 2002 By Bryn Mickle Flint JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Genesee County - A citizens police review board is among the ideas being considered to improve the relationship between police officers and the people they serve. . The National Conference for Community and Justice has spent the past year working with county officials and citizens on issues such as racial profiling. "Genesee County was once praised for its racial harmony and race relations, but over the past 10 to 15 years there has been a noticeable pushing apart between the races," said Daedra McGhee, associate director of the NCC J, a New York-based nonprofit human relations group doing similar workshops in Wayne and Washtenaw counties. A May meeting in Flint between law enforcement and community groups found that both sides expressed interest in a special board that would review citizen complaints against police, although there was disagreement over the extent of authority to give the board. There was also a feeling that police departments should be more open and honest in their sharing of information with citizens. "(Secrecy) is something that's typical in law enforcement," McGhee said. The issue of racial profiling has been a main theme of the discussions, sorting out the distinctions between good police work and unfairly targeting people because of their appearance. The state Department of Civil Rights office in Flint gets dozens of calls each year alleging police misconduct against citizens, said Lela Marsh, office team coordinator. The majority of the complaints involve allegations of harassment, profiling and brutality by white officers against black citizens, she said. A citizens review board would be a welcome addition, Marsh said. "The more dialogue you have, then the better the community relations," Marsh said. The issue of profiling is not confined to black citizens, McGhee said. The aftermath of Sept. 11 has produced an increased number of complaints from citizens with Arab backgrounds complaining they are unfairly targeted in terrorism investigations. The problem with profiling is not so much the act but the intent of police, McGhee said. 7/29/02 Page 2 of 2 "If it's not used in equal applications on all races, then it raises questions," she said. Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said he thinks relations are improving but cautioned that highly publicized incidents of alleged police brutality can ruin public relations work. He pointed to the recent videotape of the alleged beating of a black youth by a white officer in Inglewood, Calif. "Overall, police are hardworking and decent," Pickell said. "It only takes one or two officers to act like (the officer in the video) to break down years of hard work." The discussions have included a wide spectrum of groups, including the American Arab Heritage Council, the ACLU/NAACP of Flint and the Genesee County prosecutor's office. Bryn Mickle is the afternoon police reporter. He can be reached at (810) 766-6383 or bmickle@flintjournal.com. 7/29/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, July 26, 2002 1:31 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Cincinnati Black Cops: FOB Isn't Backing Us Black cops: FOP isn't backing us By Kevin Osborne, Cincinnati Post staff reporter A group formed by Cincinnati's black police officers has cast a no-confidence vote against the city's police union and its president, Roger Webster. The Sentinel Police Association announced Tuesday that its members passed the measure against the Fraternal Order of Police, saying it doesn't adequately represent its African-American members. Unless the situation changes, the Sentinels promise further legal steps against the union, including possibly asking its members to withdraw from the FOP. "That is not something that is out of pocket at this time, but that is an individual decision to be made," said police Specialist Scotty Johnson, Sentinel president. Johnson also promised other actions, including the possibility of a civil lawsuit, but declined to o fief specifics. "Symbolism is not all that's going on here," he said.. "There's a step 2, 3 and 4." The Sentinels have 258 members; about 70 voted on the FOP measure. Chief among the Sentinels' complaints is what it terms the inequity in how the FOP defends black and white police officers accused of misconduct. Johnson noted that in the past year -- when white Officers Patrick Caton, Robert "Blaine" Jorg and Stephen Roach were facing criminal charges -- FOP leaders made frequent TV appearances supporting them and started legal defense funds. In the past few months, however, the union remained silent while several black officers -- including Lt. Col.. Ron Twitty and Officers Robert Johnson, Robert Kidd Jr. and Victor Spellen -- faced allegations of misconduct. "We pay dues monthly, we serve the city every day and put our lives on the line," Johnson said. "We deserve the same treatment." The final incident prompting the vote occurred last weekend after Mayor Charlie Luken publicly questioned whether Twitty, the city's highest-ranking black officer, should be returned to duty pending the outcome of an investigation into how his city- issued vehicle was damaged. In response, Webster, the FOP president, said the mayor should "stay the hell out of it." Webster added: "This flies in the face of all the cops on the street. If they're going to do this for the African-American assistant chief, then you need to do it for Victor Spellen, Robert Kidd and Robert Johnson, the African-American officers in the same situ ation. Or else the assistant chief is being treated differently. I mean, this is crazy." The Sentinels said Webster is siding with Police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. instead of rank-and-file officers who are union members. Webster was out of town Tuesday, but FOP Vice President Keith Fangman said the main issue is a difference in style between Webster and Johnson. "1 would agree that there is ample opportunity to improve the working relationship between Roger Webster and Scotty Johnson," Fangman said. "1 will do whatever is necessary to facilitate that. "The FOP and the Sentinels, as organizations, I think that relationship is pretty good," he added. "A large part of this is a personality conflict between Roger and Scotty" Fangman said he will coordinate a meeting between the two once Webster returns. He noted that Webster reappointed several Sentinel members to the FOP's most powerful committees, including those that oversee wage issues, political endorsements and grievances. Also, the union defends its members during internal administrative inquiries into possible disciplinary actions, and pays legal fees, but doesn't interfere in ongoing criminal investigations, Fangman said. For example, on Tuesday, the union learned it had successfully argued before an arbitrator for the rehiring of black Officer Terrence Dobbins. Dobbins had been fired for allegedly punching someone in the face. "The FOP has a strong history in successfully defending black officers," Fangman said. "Those facts and the successful arbitrati on decisions on behalf of black officers speak volumes." But retired Officers Artie Crumb and Richard Rose, who helped form the Sentinels in 1968, said the police union has never treated its black members equitably. Publication Date: 07-24-2002 7/29/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, July 29, 2002 1:24 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Kafka in Tulia Kafka in Tulia By BOB HERBERT NYTimes 7 29 02 [] ulia is a hot, dusty town of 5,000 on the Texas Panhandle, about 50 miles south of Amarillo. For some, it's a frightening place, slow and bigoted and bizarre. Kafka could have had a field day with Tulia. On the morning of July 23, 1999, law enforcement officers fanned out and arrested more than 10 percent of Tulia's tiny African-American population Also arrested were a handful of whites who had relationships with blacks. The humiliating roundup was intensely covered by the local media, which had been tipped-off in advance. Men and women, bewildered and unkempt, were paraded before TV cameras and featured prominently on the evening news. They were drug traffickers, one and all, said the sheriff, a not particularly bright Tulia bulb named Larry StewarL Among the 46 so-called traffickers were a pig farmer, a forklift operator and a number of ordinary young women with children. If these were major cocaine dealers, as alleged, they were among the oddest in the U.S. None of them had any money to speak of. And when they were arrested, they didn't have any cocaine. No drugs, money or weapons were recovered during the surprise roundup. Most of Tulia's white residents applauded the arrests, and the local newspapers were all but giddy with their editorial approval. The first convictions came quickly, and the sentences left the town's black residents aghast. One of the few white defendants, a man who happened to have a mixed-race child, was sentenced to more than 300 years in prison. The hog farmer, a black man in his late 50's named Joe Moore, was sentenced to 90 years. Kareem White, a 24-year-old black man, was sentenced to 60 years. And so on. When the defendants awaiting trial saw this extreme sentencing trend, they began scrambling to plead guilty in exchange for lighter sentences. These ranged from 18 years in prison to, in some case, just probation. It is not an overstatement to describe the arrests in Tulia as an atrocity. The entire operation was the work of a single police officer who claimed to have conducted an 18-month undercover operation. The arrests were made solely on the word of this officer, Tom Coleman, a white man with a wretched work history, who routinely referred to black people as "niggers" and who frequently found himself in trouble with the law. Mr. Coleman's alleged undercover operation was ridiculous. There were no other police officers to corroborate his activities. He did not wear a wire or conduct any video surveillance. And he did not keep detailed records of his alleged drug buys. He said he sometimes wrote such important information as the names of suspects and the dates of transactions on his leg. 7/29/02 Page 2 of 2 In trial after trial, prosecutors put Mr. Coleman on the witness stand and his uncorroborated, unsubstantiated testimony was enough to send people to prison for decades. In some instances, lawyers have been able to show that there was no basis in fact -- none at all -- for Mr. Coleman's allegations, that they came from some realm other than reality. He said, for example, that he had purchased drugs from a woman named Tonya White, and she was duly charged. But last April the charges had to be dropped when Ms. White's lawyers proved that she had cashed a check in Oklahoma City at the time that she was supposed to have been selling drugs to Mr. Coleman in Tulia. Another defendant, Billy Don Wafer, was able to prove -- through employee time sheets and his boss's testimony -- that he was working at the time he was alleged by Mr. Coleman to have been selling cocaine. And the local district attorney, Terry McEachern, had to dismiss the case against a man named Yul Bryant after it was learned that Mr. Coleman had described him as a tall black man with bushy hair. Mr. Bryant was 5-foot-6 and bald. In a just world, this case would be no more than a spoof on "Saturday Night Live." Instead it's a tragedy with no remedy in sight. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice, the Tulia Legal Defense Project and a number of private law firms are trying to mount an effort to free the men and women imprisoned in this fiasco. The idea that people could be rounded up and sent away for what are effectively lifetime terms solely on the word of a police officer like Tom Coleman is insane. 7/29/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 4 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 10:45 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Inglewood Cop's Chokehold Hospitalized Earlier Suspect http J/www.latimes.com/news/Ioca!/!a-me-choke3 l jul31 .story Chokehold by Inglewood Officer Hospitalized Earlier Suspect Police: The man was in intensive care for three days after recent encounter with Jeremy Morse. By KURT STREETER LA Times Staff Writer July 31 2002 Two weeks before slamming a handcuffed teen onto the hood of a police cruiser, Inglewood Police Officer Jeremy J. Morse was directly involved in a violent, near-deadly altercation--hitting a 32-year-old man with a baton and then helping apply a chokehold that knocked him out. Morse's participation in the beating of Neilson Williams, which has received far less notice than the minutely scrutinized Donovan Jackson arrest of July 6, is detailed in a police report obtained by The Times and in interviews with Williams and a witness who claims to have seen much of what happened. Medical records show that Williams spent three days in intensive care after the June 23 encounter. He suffered severe respiratory injuries, apparently caused by the chokehold. In the police report, Morse says the use of force was justified because Williams was drunk and resisted handcuffing. "We felt in fear for our safety and believed he was preparing himself to physically attack us," he wrote. VVilliams, whose family filed a complaint with the Police Department as he lay in the hospital, denies the accusations. He was not arrested, although police now say they have issued a warrant on charges of resisting officers and battery. Last week, Williams filed a $75-million claim against the city of Inglewood, accusing Morse of abuse. Inglewood officials have refused to comment and have officially sealed the incident report, citing ongoing investigations by their internal affairs wing and the district attorney. Morse's lawyer characterizes Williams' legal claim as a "nothing case" spurred by opportunism. The officer himself has been advised not to talk. Williams, who initially spoke freely to a reporter for this story, has also stopped talking on the advice of his legal team. Unlike the Jackson case, in which a video recording led prosecutors to charge Morse with assault and another officer with fabricating his incident report, all that exists in the Williams beating are disparate narratives: one told in Morse's report, another by Williams, still another by what may be the only witness not involved in the altercation, a teenager who corroborates parts of Williams' story. What is known for certain is that Williams, who had been drinking, encountered Morse and another police officer after he left a barbecue at Inglewood's Ashwood Park late in the evening on June 23. A short time later, he was in the hospital, legally intoxicated, bruised, bloody and fighting to live. "1 thought he was going to die," said a medical worker at the hospital. Since spending three days in intensive care at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, Williams, who stands near 6 feet 4 and weights about 250 pounds, has spent most of his days shuttling between his mother's Inglewood home and doctors' and psychologists' offices. As Williams recalled that day, he spoke of a bright, lazy Sunday afternoon. He and a group of about 20 spent most of the day at Ashwood Park, a small pie-slice stretch of grass and pavement that bumps up against the San Diego Freeway. Ashwood is usually filled with a mix of Latino and black families and kids. Gang members, Bloods mostly, go there on 7/31/02 Page 2 of 4 occasion-drinking, talking big, shooting hoops and sometimes smoking marijuana. In this tough, working-class neighborhood they are merely part of the fabric, not necessarily welcomed, not particularly shunned. Williams and his group, a mix of teens and adults, spent most of the day grilling chicken, ribs and steaks, he said. Hip-hop blared from boomboxes, some people played dominoes, some dashed up and down the basketball courL Williams, who grew up in the neighborhood, was dressed in black khakis and a white shirt, and though he disputed the notion that he was drunk, he admitted that he nursed a few beers through the afternoon. By around 10:30 p.m. the party was over. Williams said he and another man whose name he does not know began cleaning up trash, then left the park shortly thereafter. They walked through a small entry to the park, near two tennis courts. Williams was pleased with how the day had gone. He'd had a chance to impart some of his hard-earned street knowledge to a crew of young kids. Known in Inglewood by his street name "Be Upon," Williams is a onetime street tough who says he turned his life around as a teenager in the late 1980s after a series of run-ins with police that included a drug-possession conviction. Morse said in the report that he recognized Williams as a gang member. There are no indications in court records that Williams has had any legal trouble in the last 12 years. Those who know him say that over the last decade, Williams has become a much-respected fome in the neighborhood by working to stop gang violence, organizing turkey giveaways for Thanksgiving, fighting to keep kids in school and helping produce the music of home-grown rap artists. Williams is known as a "peacemaker," a man who can ease tension between Crips and Bloods and Latinos and blacks, said Bo Taylor, one of the authors of the landmark gang truces that sprang up in Los Angeles after the 1992 riots. Civil rights attorney Constance Rice said she has been in meetings with Williams and gang members who were trying to sort out differences and live peacefully. "His thing is, he's trying to turn around young minds," Rice said. She said Williams is known to be part of a small, eclectic group of people working to reduce urban violence--a mixture of Bloods, Crips and other gang members assisted by the likes of football great Jim Brown, actor Harry Belafonte and others. Rice and Taylor each speculated that police that night mistook Williams for an active gang member, since he hangs out among gangs for his work. Morse, in his police report, indicated there was no mistake. Police were clear about what they came upon as they arrived at Ashwood Park that evening responding to a call for backup. A suspect, "a known Queen Street Blood," had run away from two other officers at the park. Morse said that people were seen running, and that he and his partner, Michael Concha, tried to block one of the park's entrances. At that point, Morse wrote, Williams approached the officers, belligerent and smelling of alcohol. When officers told him to turn around and put his hands behind his back, Morse wrote, Williams refused and cursed. Williams was sweating and had a blank stare and clenched fists, Morse wrote. The officers now had backup, since a sergeant had arrived, and they moved to subdue Williams. "Due to Williams' massive size, noncompliant behavior, his unknown level of intoxication and the fact that he was becoming more aggressive as time went by," Morse reported, "we felt in fear for our safety and believed he was preparing himself to physically attack us." Williams described the start of the confrontation quite differently. As he and the other man made their way onto the sidewalk after cleaning the park, Williams said, a squad car approached, two officers inside. The officers were calm, asked for identification, frisked the two men, then let them go, Williams said. The man Williams was with walked away and did not return. Williams said there was nobody else on the street, just him and the two officers. But as he got into his car, parked nearby, and tried to drive away, at least two more patrol cars sped down Ash Avenue and screeched to a halt in front of him, Williams said. These officers had a much different attitude "Right offthe top, they were angry," he said. "It was like they were dealing with someone who had just robbed a bank or something." 7/31/02 Page 3 of 4 Morse wrote that he and his partner tried to handcuff Williams, but that Williams resisted, elbowed Concha, then turned toward Morse. "Officer Concha immediately attempted to place a carotid restraint on Williams to overcome his resistance," Morse reported. What ensued, Morse said, was a scramble: Williams fighting, Concha's arms wrapped around his neck, Concha, a small man compared with Williams, dangling in the air. Morse joined the fray. '1 felt in fear for Officer Concha's safety," he wrote, "and I used my duty PR-24 aluminum baton to strike Williams two times on the backside of his left leg in an attempt to discontinue Williams' resistance." In Morse's retelling, all three men were soon on the ground. Concha and Morse worked together to apply pressure to Williams' neck. Morse wrote: 'I placed pressure on officer Concha's right forearm to, in turn, place pressure on Williams' left carotid artery. After about 10 seconds of pressure from my assistance, Williams appeared to be unconscious." The fighting didn't end there. With the officers trying to handcuff him, Williams stirred once more, resisting and pulling his arm away from the sergeant who now assisted the two officers, Morse wrote. Concha wrapped an arm around Williams' neck once again and Williams passed out a second time. "We were able to place handcuffs on Williams without further incident," Morse wrote. Other than the fact that he lost consciousness, Williams' account continues to differ markedly from Morse's. According to Williams, he found himself surrounded by squad cars and officers were shouting, telling him to get out of his car with his hands up. He said he did not recall what became of the two officers with whom he originally talked. Williams said he complied, slowly raising his arms as he stepped out of his car. As he stood, Williams said, one officer pushed him in the back, causing him to fall hard onto the hood of the police car. Williams straightened up and began pleading for calm, he said. Seemingly out of nowhere, Williams said, an officer smacked him in the upper left arm. Williams said he asked, "What the hell did you do that for?" The officers weren't happy with his response, Williams said. They countered by telling him to get his hands up. Then one officer pulled out a gun, stood about five feet away, and leveled the barrel at Williams' face. "1 said to myself, 'Look, I'm not about to go through no "Mississippi Burning" thing,' "Williams recalled. "So I asked them to put me in the car. So they don't have to hit me no more." Williams said he was handcuffed by two officers, which he claims calmed him. The officers would feel more in control. I'm gonna be fine, Williams told himself; the officers will soon figure out I'm no threat. But "suddenly? he said, "somebody jumps on my back. There's a guy on my back and I start getting beat." What Williams said he remembered after that were sparse details: losing awareness, falling to the concrete, panic, a fight for air. Then his memories begin fading. It would have been just before Williams remembers falling to the ground that Guillermo Beltran, an 18-year-old who lives in a house just next to where the altercation happened, walked out his front door, alerted by screeching police cars. Beltran said he was about 15 feet away from Williams and the police, peeking from behind a red cinderblock wall. Beltran said he first saw Williams with his hands up, with officers milling around. Then, after Beltran went into his house for a moment to tell his sister what was going on, he returned to find Williams' hands down at his sides. He said he could not tell if williams was in handcuffs. Beltran and Williams' stories differ in some ways. For instance, Beltran said Williams was turned toward the park as officers approached. Williams said he was facing away from the park. Beltran said williams drove his beat-up burgundy Chrysler Fifth Avenue about 20 feet before police stopped him. Williams said he could not get his car started. On the matter of police treatment, though, their stories are similar. "The big guy was just standing there, he seemed to be doing what they said," said Beltran, who said he knows Williams 7/31/02 only by reputation. "Out of nowhere, the officers started swinging." Page 4 of 4 Beltran said that as one officer held Williams from behind in a chokehold, others began striking him, using their batons to hit him in the upper body and legs. Beltran made a motion like a man chopping a tree as he attempted to describe what happened. Williams, Beltran said, was pleading for them to stop, yelling: "1 can't breathe, I can't breathe." Beltran said that as Williams was being choked he appeared to go limp, then toppled in a clump. Beltran said officers continued to hit and kick Williams when he was on the ground. "1 was seeing fists just flying," he said. "It was about 30 seconds, all of that hitting." With Williams lying unconscious, officers stood about his body in a relaxed mood, as if they were socializing, said Beltran and his 17-year-old sister, Cintia, who by that time also was watching. From the kitchen doorway, Cintia said, she saw an officer kick at Williams' legs. At about 11:27 p.m., Los Angeles County paramedics were called to the scene by police, according to Fire Department records. They arrived at 11:32 p.m. Racing Williams to the hospital, the medics helped keep their patient breathing by placing an oxygen tube down his throat, Williams said. Medical records show that Williams arrived at the hospital suffering from "severe respiratory distress," unable to breathe properly because his airways were swollen. His brain had been starved of oxygen, he was bruised and puffl/and his forehead bore a thick, wide cut. When asked to compare Williams' condition with other patients hospitalized after altercations with police, Dr. William Hong, one of the physicians who treated him, said, "probably the worst I've seen." A medical worker who saw Williams carted into the hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Williams was in terrible shape. "1 thought he was going to die," said the medic. "It wasn't a pretty sight. They told us he had been fighting with police." Hospital reports reviewed by The Times back up Morse's contention that Williams had been drinking heavily. A medical report showed Williams' blood alcohol was about 0.19%, more than twice the legal limit. It would take three days for Williams to get out of the hospital, a period in which his family filed a complaint against police, organized a protest and began to pray that someone beyond their small circle would care. The case was hardly noticed in Inglewood. It got no play in the media. Then came July 6, and a video showing officer Morse's treatment of a handcuffed teen. 7/31/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Thursday, August 01, 2002 9:52 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] NYTimes.com Article: Former Police Captain Pleads Guilty in Manslaughter Case Former Police Captain Pleads Guilty in Manslaughter Case July 30, 2002 By AL BAKER A former New York Police Department captain who had been chosen to fight corruption on the job pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter yesterday in a 1999 drunken driving accident that killed a construction worker on the Throgs Neck Bridge. Appearing in State Supreme Court in Queens, the former captain, James F. O'Connor, acknowledged driving his unmarked police car while drunk at 12:40 a.m. on Oct. 20, 1999, when he hit and killed the worker, Afif Hazim, 52, who was removing asphalt from the bridge for repaying. In pleading guilty to a six-count indictment, Mr. O'Connor told Judge Robert J. Hanophy that he had ignored road markings indicating that the left lane, where Mr. Hazim was working, was closed for construction. A blood test showed that Mr. O'Connor had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12, above the legal threshold of 0.10, said an aide to Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney. "The defendant, a career police commander with a promising future, has admitted his guilt to a terrible and tragic crime," Mr. Brown said yesterday in a written statement. The case against Mr. O'Connor follows the conviction in May of a former police officer, Joseph Gray, on manslaughter charges stemming from his driving drunk and hitting several members of a family as they crossed a Brooklyn street. Days after Mr. Gray's conviction, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly issued a policy that toughened the sanctions for officers who drink and drive, so that those involved in serious automobile accidents after drinking, either on or off duty, would almost certainly be dismissed. Yesterday, Michael Dowd, who is Mr. O'Connor's lawyer, said that Mr. O'Connor opted to plead guilty when negotiations with the district attorney's office broke down. A trial was set to start yesterday, officials said. Mr. O'Connor, 47, resigned from the police force on Friday. Yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Brad A. Leventhal requested a prison sentence of three to nine years for Mr. O'Connor. But Judge Hanophy indicated that he intended to impose a term of one to three years at the Sept. 16 sentencing. 1 On the night of the crash, Mr. O'Connor left a gathering in his honor in the Bronx and get into his unmarked Ford police car to drive to Queens to pick up his private car, officials said. The party was a celebration of his promotion to the Internal Affairs Bureau, said Hr. Dowd, who said Hr. O'Connor had been drinking beer and had been given a "pretty good shot of liquor, like Irish Hist or something," by the bartender as he left. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/O7/30/nyregien/30CAPT.html?ex-lO29211695&ei=l &en=dad8535f64ad3283 Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 10:01 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Inglewood Teen Denies Provoking Police Jabs http J/www,!at!mes.com/news/Ioca!/la-me-beat3 lju!31005050~story?co!!=!a%2Dhead!!nes%2Dca!ifornia Teen Denies Provoking Police Jabs Courts: In grand jury transcript, Donovan Jackson says he obeyed all orders. But peace officers granted immunity say he resisted. By ANNA GORMAN and STEVE BERRY LA TIMES STAFF WRITERS July 31 2002 Teenager Donovan Jackson told grand jurors that he did not provoke the scuffle that occurred moments before an Inglewood police officer slammed him into the trunk of a patrol car and then punched him in the jaw July 6. Jackson said he was pummeled and choked into unconsciousness by officers and does not remember the beating that was captured on an amateur videotape that spurred a national uproar, according to the testimony he gave to the Los Angeles County Grand Jury earlier this month. The statements of Jackson, who has not commented publicly, are contained in a 450-page transcript of the grand jury proceedings that was unsealed late Tuesday by Superior Court Judge David Wesley after an oral motion by the district attorney's office. The transcript also shows that two Inglewood police officers and two sheriffs deputies were given immunity by prosecutors to testify before the grand jury after they initially refused to answer questions. None of the four said they saw Inglewood Officer Jeremy Morse throw a handcuffed Jackson onto the patrol car. But the two immunized Inglewood officers, after being shown the video shot from a motel across the street, said Morse's actions were not acceptable police behavior. The transcript also reveals that at least some of the officers at the scene were aware they were being taped as the incident unfolded. The grand jury, after six days of testimony, indicted Morse on a charge of assault under the color of authority, and his partner, Bijan Darvish, on a charge of filing a false police report. The two officers, who did not testify before the grand jury, have pleaded not guilty to the felony charges, which carry prison terms of up to three years if they are convicted. In addition to the law enforcement officers granted immunity, the grand jury also heard testimony from witnesses including Jackson's father, Coby Chavis, the amateur videographer Mitchell Crooks and three county Fire Department employees who went to the scene of the incident at an Inglewood gas station. Contrary to assertions in police reports that he violently resisted officers, Jackson, 16, testified that he obeyed every order from the moment he first encountered one of two sheriffs deputies who were questioning Chavis, 41, about an expired registration tag. Jackson said he peacefully obeyed orders to submit to a pat-down search and that he felt "violated," frightened and "a little bit" angry because of the search. Jackson said he also complied with a request to sit in the back of the sheriffs patrol car. The violence, he testified, erupted when he stood up upon seeing Morse and Darvish arrive. Jackson told grand jurors he stood because he feared the officers would beat him. He said a deputy then put his hand on Jackson's neck, at which time the officers began hitting him, the youth said. Jackson described "four or five officers coming at me" and said they hit him with four quick punches to the jaw, after which they put him on the ground, where the beating continued. He said someone hit him near his ear with a baton or a flashlight, a statement that he repeated to a paramedic, according to the transcript. When one of the officers wrapped his arm around his neck and squeezed until he could not breathe, Jackson said, he 8/1/02 Page 2 of 2 started kicking and trying to get free until he passed out. The youth said he did not regain consciousness until Morse was walking him to a patrol car after the trunk-slamming incident. He said Morse made him sit in the car and told him, 'Tm going to break your nose." Another officer said he was going to break Jackson's neck, the youth said. The boy said his injuries included a swollen face, a red eye, a cut on his head and continuing headaches. The two Inglewood officers and the two sheriffis deputies granted immunity each told a slightly different version of events, but there was agreement that the teenager did not resist after he was handcuffed on the ground at the end of the scuffle. Inglewood Officer Mariano Salcedo, an eight-year veteran of the force, said that a deputy and two Inglewood officers were on top of Jackson when he arrived and that he could see the youth moving his feet. He said the o~iicers repeatedly told Jackson to "stop resisting." Salcedo said he got on top of Jackson's legs and later helped roll him from his back to his stomach. He said Jackson stopped resisting when the officers handcuffed him. Salcedo said he walked away to call into the police station and never saw Morse slam Jackson onto the trunk of the car, "1 heard a thump, like something being placed on something," Salcedo said, apparently referring to the moment seen on the videotape in which Morse slammed Jackson onto the trunk. Moments later, Salcedo said, he heard Morse yell, "Let me go, let me go," and "flinch back with his hips" just before he saw the officer strike Jackson in the jaw. Morse has said Jackson grabbed him in the groin area. Salcedo testified that he did not see Jackson grab the officer. At one point after the videotaped punch, Salcedo said, he took Morse's hand to restrain him. He said he grabbed the officer "to get his attention.... I wanted to get in there and get the suspect, de-escalate and get the suspect in the car." Salcedo said that shortly after he arrived during the scuffle, he saw a man in a motel across the street filming the event. "1 just made an announcement to the officers, 'Watch your Ps and Qs,' Salcedo said. Inglewood Officer Antoine Crook echoed much of his partner's testimony, but said he struck Jackson's hand with a flashlight during the scuffle after the youth refused to put his arms behind his back. The first law enforcement officers on the scene were Sheriffs Deputies Carlos Lopez and Daniel Leon. Lopez testified that about 5 p.m., he and his partner, Leon, were driving east on Century Boulevard when he looked into a gas station and decided to run a license plate. After realizing that the registration was expired, the deputies got out of their car. Lopez approached the passenger side and Leon walked to the driver's side. When the passenger, Jackson, started to get into the car, Lopez said, he asked him to wait. The deputy said that Jackson did not listen but grabbed the door and tried to get in, and that he asked the youth again to wait. At that point, Lopez said, "He just stopped there and just started staring at me intently with an angered look and breathing hard." Jackson refused to follow several more orders, Lopez said, so the deputy grabbed the youth's arms and put the palms together. Lopez said that when he tried to put the boy in his patrol car, Jackson lunged and he forced him onto the ground. "1 want to place handcuffs on him the quickest way so as to prevent injury to myself, the Inglewood officers and himself," Lopez said. Once down on the ground, Lopez testified, Jackson was swinging his arms and kicking. Officers Morse and Darvish tried to control him and yelled, "Stop resisting," Lopez testified. The deputy said he recalled seeing Darvish punch Jackson twice in the face. After Jackson was handcuffed, the youth stopped resisting, according to the transcript. Lopez wrote in a six-page report that Jackson scratched and fought with the Inglewood police officers, requiring them to hit the teenager in the face, but he acknowledged to the grand jury that he had not seen the scratching directly. Leon testified that he did not see Morse hit Jackson or slam him on the patrol car. 8/1/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 10:02 AM To: Update@NACOLEorg Subject: [NACOLE Update] LAPD Blames Faulty Training in DNA Destruction http;//www !atimes.com/news/Iocal/la-me-dn~3 lju!31 .story?co!!=!a%2 Dhead!ines%2Dca!ifornia LAPD Blames Faulty Training in DNA Snafu Police: Officials say evidence was destroyed in rape cases because detectives didn't know about a change in the statute of limitations. By TINA DAUNT LA TIMES STAFF WRITER July 31 2002 A day after disclosing that the Los Angeles Police Department mistakenly destroyed biological evidence in 1,100 sexual assault cases, LAPD officials blamed the problem on their failure to properly train detectives on maintaining so-called rape kits. Acting Chief Martin Pomeroy told members of the Police Commission that detectives ordered DNA evidence destroyed because they were unaware that the statute of limitations for rape cases was lengthened in 2001 from six years to 10. Lt. Horace Frank, an LAPD spokesman, said in an interview that the department has reviewed its procedures in recent weeks to determine what went wrong. He said a memo was issued to detectives when the change took effect, but somehow the information was overlooked. "We've had a lot of new detectives who have inherited unsolved cases," Frank said. "For some reason they were not made aware.... It's absolutely a training issue." Pomeroy said that the department has formed a task force to look into the issue and that the forensics division has been ordered not to destroy any evidence. He said the department has revamped its training to make sure officers are informed of changes in state law. "1 believe we're in a good position to stop the disposing of such evidence," Pomeroy said. LAPD officials disclosed to council members Monday that a random sampling of unsolved sexual assault cases dating to 1995 found that detectives had ordered DNA evidence destroyed in 1,100 cases. The problem came to light in April, when the district attorney's forensic science director complained that evidence in as many as 4,000 sexual assault cases in Los Angeles County might have been lost or destroyed by law enforcement over the last six years. DNA, which is obtained from body fluids such as semen, blood and saliva, is the basic identifying material in the human cell and is responsible for transmitting a person's unique genetic patterns. Foreign DNA collected from a victim in a rape kit is compared with a DNA sample from a suspect to determine if the two match. In many instances, the sample is all a prosecutor needs to make a case against a suspect. Pomeroy said it is unclear whether any evidence was destroyed in cases that were open or unsolved at the time. However, he said it was possible. "We have looked into this," Pomeroy said. "Certainly, in some of those cases we could have had evidence that could have made a difference in the investigation." Police Commission President Rick Caruso said in an interview Tuesday that "there is no excuse" for detectives destroying the evidence. "They didn't understand what the statute of limitations were," Caruso said. "They weren't trained properly. We have been assured that there is a new training program in place and the same mistake won't happen again. 8/1/02 Page 2 of 2 "It's unfortunate that it happened in the first place." City Councilman Jack Weiss said he will introduce a motion at today's council meeting instructing the city attorney to work with the LAPD inspector general to ensure that officers are schooled on all law changes. "The law is constantly evolving," Weiss said. "There are new statutes enacted all the time. We need to make sure that officers stay on the cutting edge." Women's advocates also called for further scrutiny of department practices. "The fact that they threw out the kits is unbelievable," said Karen Polmer, a Los Angeles sexual assault victim who helped lead the charge for lengthening the statute of limitations in rape cases. "Not only does it impact thousands of women whose cases are unsolved, it also affects the innocent people who may have been convicted of crimes but now will not be able to prove their innocence. It just makes me sick to my stomach." Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials, meanwhile, said they have been auditing their own DNA procedures in recent months and hope to have the results soon. So far, they have found that detectives have properly maintained DNA samples, said Sgt. Dan Scott. 8/1/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 10:02 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] 4 Took 5th in Beating Probe http://www.latimes,com/news/Ioca!/!a-me-beatlaug01 ,story?co!!=!a%2 Dhead!ines% 2 Dca!ifornia 4 Took 5th in Beating Probe Grand jury: Judge agreed that two Inglewood officers and two deputies risked incriminating themselves. So D.A.'s office granted immunity. By STEVE BERRY and ANNA GORMAN TIMES STAFF WRITERS August1 2002 Prosecutors were fomed to give immunity to four law enforcement officers in order to get them to testify before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury about the videotaped beating of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson, a transcript and interviews show. The statements contained in the 450-page transcript could benefit both sides if the case of two Inglewood officers goes to trial, experts said. Inglewood Officer Jeremy J. Morse has been indicted on a charge of assault under the color of authority for the beating of Jackson. Morse's partner, Bijan Darvish, was charged with filing a false police report because he failed to include an account of Morse slamming Jackson against the trunk of a patrol car. Neither Morse nor Darvish testified before the grand jury. At trial, prosecutors would be likely to emphasize the immunized officers' statements that Jackson had stopped resisting once he was handcuffed--before Morse slammed the teenager against the car. Moreover, after being shown the videotape, the two Inglewood officers granted immunity testified that Morse's actions were inconsistent with police policy. Defense attorneys, however, were already emphasizing another part of the testimony: that some of the officers knew they were being videotaped both by a citizen and a surveillance camera. "It's a preposterous notion to think that an officer would write a false police report knowing that there were two independent films," said Darvish's attorney, Ron Brower. He said his client was looking away when Jackson was placed on the patrol car, adding that the grand jury transcript shows that Darvish was not the only one who said he did not see what was caught on videotape. Morse's attorney, John Barnett, said there were many points in the transcript that support his case. Referring to the officers' comments that his client violated policy, he said they did not have all the facts. "The officers are not use-of4orce experts," he said. "If use-of-force experts testify and look at both tapes, then their opinion will be, and is, that the use of force was appropriate." 8/1/02 Page 2 of 3 Defense lawyers also may stress that none of the four officers testified that they actually saw Morse throw Jackson against the car and that only one witnessed him punch the boy in the face. When Inglewood Officers Mariano Salcedo and Antoine Crook and county sheriff's deputies Carlos Lopez and Daniel Leon were called to testify, each invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. After holding a hearing on the issue, Superior Court Judge Dan Oki ruled that the four officers did risk incriminating themselves by testifying about their involvement in the incident. Based on that, prosecutors granted them immunity, meaning they are essentially protected from criminal charges arising from the fracas. The incident began when the two sheriffs deputies approached Jackson's father, Coby Chavis, to investigate expired registration tags on his car. A struggle ensued after Jackson allegedly refused to obey several orders by deputies, according to the transcript. Darvish struck Jackson in the face before the teenager was handcuffed, the transcript said. 'No Longer a Threat' The immunized officers told grand jurors that Jackson stopped resisting as soon as he was on the ground and handcuffed. Salcedo said Jackson's legs went limp, and Crook said, "He was no longer a threat." Jackson told grand jurors that he had passed out by then after being choked and pummeled by officers. His father also testified that his son became unconscious. The videotape of the incident shot by a bystander, Mitchell Crooks, shows Morse lifting a handcuffed Jackson off the ground and slamming him onto the police car. Salcedo told grand jurors that he heard a thump-presumably the sound of the slamming-and saw Morse with Jackson on the police car. A moment later, Salcedo testified, he heard the officer yell, "Let me go, let me go" and "flinch back with his hips." That could bolster Morse's contention that Jackson grabbed him in the groin. One Says He Saw Punch Salcedo was the only one of the four officer witnesses who testified that he then witnessed Morse punch Jackson. Afterward, he said, he restrained Morse to de-escalate the situation. The other officers told grand jurors that they saw neither the punch nor the slamming. During the grand jury proceedings, Salcedo and Crook both watched the video and said Morse's conduct was not acceptable police policy or behavior. Crook testified about the slamming: "We weren't taught to do that as policy.... We are only taught to place people in cars." Los Angeles attorney Carolyn Kubota, a former federal prosecutor, said the testimony by Salcedo and Crook could help prove the prosecution case because "police policy is the guideline for officers to use to determine appropriate action." Prosecutors may also use that testimony to show that police policy does not permit continued use of force after the suspect quits resisting. Loyola Law School professor Stan Goldman, however, said he does not think prosecutors gained much from the officers' testimony other than getting them on the record. "The grand jury probably would have indicted them just on the videotape and Jackson's testimony," he said. Goldman also said defense lawyers will be able to attack Jackson's testimony that he passed out. "Isn't it convenient to say you are unconscious just at the moment when Officer Morse is saying you are grabbing his crotch?" he said. Defense attorneys said the transcript casts doubt on Jackson's truthfulness. Jackson said he obeyed all of the officers' orders, though the officers testified that the boy lunged at them. Barnett said Jackson's testimony contradicted his family's statements that he did not understand the officers' orders because he is developmentally disabled. 8/1/02 Page 3 of 3 Barnett added that Jackson continued to resist officers after being handcuffed. "As soon as [Morse] picked Jackson up and [Jackson] refused to walk, that's a form of resistance," he said. Morse could have feared that the resistance would resume after Jackson was handcuffed, Barnett said. "The testicle grabbing could support that." 8/1/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 9:21 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Omaha Officer Sues Citizen for Complaint Published Thursday > August 1, 2002 >> Police officer sues citizen over complaint >> BY KARYN SPENCER >> WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER > > In the first lawsuit of its kind in Nebraska, an Omaha police officer is > suing a citizen who filed a complaint against him. > > > Officer Gregory Reisbig alleges that Omaha resident Charles Rucker > jeopardized his job and caused him unnecessary mental anguish, according > to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Douglas County District Court. > > > "When a person files an utterly groundless complaint and suggests the > police officer should be fired, the police officer has to have some forum > to address this," said Reisbig's lawyer, Tom Dowd. > > > Rucker, however, stands by his complaint. > > > "The officer was way over the line, and that's a serious blemish on his > record," he said Wednesday. "Now he's trying to retaliate." > > > The he-said/he-said debate illustrates some of the word parsing and the > variety of perceptions involved in investigations into citizen complaints. > > > At one point, Rucker received a letter from the Police Department saying > that the incident happened as he described but that the officer acted > appropriately. > > > But leaders in the Omaha Police Union, which is paying Reisbig's legal > fees, think Rucker filed a "blatantly false, exaggerated complaint," union > President Tim Andersen said. > > > The lawsuit was filed out of frustration as the number of unfounded > allegations rises and people who file false claims aren't prosecuted, > Andersen said. > > "We're not telling people not to file complaints," he said. "To just come > forth with a total fabrication is what we're taking a stand against." > > > Chief Don Carey has said he doesn't believe citizens involved in those > complaints are lying deliberately, which is what prosecutors would have to > prove. He believes most of those allegations stem from misperceptions and > misunderstandings. > 8/2/02 Carey could not be reached for comment Wednesday. He has said lawsuits like this one might keep people from filing complaints, but Andersen disagrees, saying honest people still should come forward. "We feel we've exhausted our options," Andersen said. Rucker's complaint was one of 77 filed by citizens against Omaha police officers last year. Those complaints and the investigations into them are confidential under personnel laws, but Rucker's complaint was included in the lawsuit. Rucker was arrested Oct. 9 after a former tenant he once dated and her boyfriend said that he had threatened to shoot them and had showed a gun. Reisbig's police report said Rucker would not follow orders while the officer was trying to handcuff him. Rucker wrote in his complaint that the officer became inflamed after finding a pornographic photo of a black man and white woman having sex. "Racist, upset, but in control, this emotionally immature young man decided to get even with me for being in possession of something he was so apparently not in favor of," he wrote. Rucker said the officer used excessive force by slamming him to the ground. "Once I was handcuffed, the arrogant, disrespectful, controlling behavior appeared. This was reality taking place," Rucker wrote. "Those whose mission is to protect and serve were abusing me. Despots do not good servants make." Rucker said he has a master's degree in psychology and alleged that "this officer's psychological qualifications for this job were grossly overlooked." Rucker provided a letter Wednesday signed by Carey. "The circumstances of your arrest did in fact occur as you described," Carey wrote. However, the officer was "exonerated," he didn't use excessive force, conduct himself unprofessionally or violate procedures, the chief wrote. A fourth allegation of harassment was "unfounded," or false, under the department's definitions. Rucker said: "1 got the same mamby-pamby response you always do from Page 2 of 3 8/2/02 > Internal Affairs." > Rucker's allegations went beyond the typical complaint about procedures, > Dowd said. He crossed the line by suggesting that the officer was > psychologically unfit for duty and should be fired, Dowd said. > Reisbig suffered mental anguish for t~o months before the investigation > cleared him, Dowd and Andersen said. The lawsuit doesn't request a > specific dollar amount for his compensation. > "Any time you have a complaint, it wears on you. 'Will the investigation > prove I didn't do anything wrong?'" Andersen said. > > The complaint will be placed in the officer's personnel file, Andersen > said. > > Rucker agrees that the complaint could affect the officer's future. "He's > right. It will color judgment of anyone who reads it," Rucker said. "But > he shouldn't have done it." Page 3 of 3 8/2/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 12:13 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Fwd: Las Vegas Man's family makes allegations Friday, August 02, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Man's family makes allegations Sister says authorities withheld medication, causing fatal seizure By J,M. KALIL REVIEW-JOURNAL The family of an epileptic man who died at the Clark County jail last week has alleged that authorities withheld his medication, causing a fatal seizure.. The coroner's office has not released a cause of death for Glenn Nance, who died in police custody Saturday. But Nance's sister, Theresa Kelly of Bakersfield, Calif., said a coroner's official told her Nance died of a seizure likely caused by his epilepsy Kelly said Nance tried to retrieve his seizure-prevention medication when police showed up at his home Friday, but they did not allow it before taking him to jail. Kelly said after viewing her brother's body that she also believes he had been struck in the face shortly before he died, and has hired an attorney and private investigator to look into her brother's death. Post-death photographs supplied by Kelly's attorney show a bruise about the size of a quarter on Nance's left cheek. Another smaller bruise is visible beneath his left eye. Police said Thursday that Kelly has not shared her allegations with anyone at the department. "He had quite a number of medical issues," said Lt. Tom Monahan, commander of the homicide unit, which investigates any deaths of people in police custody. "The (medical examiner) said there was no trauma. If the allegation is that he was beaten, I think that was pretty much ruled out." Nance, an insulin-dependent diabetic whom Kelly says also was addicted to heroin, was arrested on an outstanding drug charge warrant Friday about 4 p.m. at his trailer home near Nellis and Las Vegas boulevards. He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center, where he suffered a medical emergency and became unresponsive about 11 a.m. Saturday, police said. He was rushed to University Medical Center, where a doctor pronounced him dead. Kelly said several of Nance's neighbors told her that Nance repeatedly pleaded with his arresting officers to allow him to retrieve his seizure medication, but they adamantly refused his request. Coroner Ron Flud declined to comment on a possible cause of death, saying it would be premature without the results of pending toxicological tests Flud said his office's investigative reports note no trauma to Nance's body. Even if the police officers who arrested Nance at his house had allowed him to retrieve his epilepsy medications, he would not have been allowed to take them into the detention center. To ensure illicit drugs are not introduced into the jail, suspects are interviewed about medical conditions when they are booked and given jail-provided medication as needed. 8/2/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Malvina Monteiro [mmonteiro@ci.cambridge.ma.us] Friday, August 02, 2002 2:18 PM Sue Quinn Furtado shooting prompts questions By Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff, 8/2/2002 When Daniel Furtado came to his door brandishing a hatchet last month, Cambridge police reacted the way officers have been trained to for decades. They sealed off the house and tried to negotiate a peaceful solution with a man they knew to be mentally ill. When that failed, they broke down the door and tried to apprehend him. But Furtado ended up dead. Two weeks after the shooting that shocked the city, advocates of a new model of dealing with the mentally ill say that the 59-year-old retired janitor didn't have to die. Across the country, police departments are increasingly talking armed mentally ill people into peaceful resolutions using methods that go against the grain of traditional law enforcement tactics. In at least three dozen cities, officers have been trained to avoid confrontations with these suspects, cutting injury rates of both officers and suspects in half and prompting an ever-widening circle of law enforcement departments to rethink how they train their officers. ''In another city, this man may not have been shot,'' said Mary Zdanowicz, an advocate for the mentally ill. Furtado's death was the third time in three months that an armed and mentally ill suspect was shot and killed by Massachusetts law enforcement officials. Advocates say more are likely. After two waves of deinstitutionalization, the number of mentally ill people living in the general population keeps rising, suggesting that their contact with police will also continue to rise. In some cases, fatal force may be the only alternative, said Maurice Richardson, a retired Dedham District Court judge who works for the mentally ill. ''When it gets to the point where someone is holding a hatchet and running at you, it's not patty-cake time anymore. The time to be warm and cuddly is over.'' But advocates of this new model that stresses de-escalation say that the mentally ill should be handled differently. While intimidation and force are effective tactics for controlling a situation with someone from the general population, those strategies may backfire if someone is mentally ill. ''Cops are taught to assert their presence and take over a situation,'' said Zdanowicz, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center in Arlington, Va. ''But if they intimidate a person who is psychotic you will get the exact opposite response; they will get more belligerent.'' That means that the mentally ill are more likely to get killed. Nationwide, mentally ill suspects are four times as likely to die in a confrontation with police as healthy people, Zdanowicz said. At Furtado's house on July 15, at least four officers went in and confronted the hatchet-wielding Furtado in his kitchen. The officers first fired three high-velocity beanbags at him, according to police reports released yesterday. Authorities say those didn't knock him down, pepper spray failed 1 to stop him, and Furtado came at them again with his hatchet. An officer with four years of experience and no specialized training in dealing with suspects with psychiatric disorders shot him three times. The Portuguese immigrant and grandfather of two died on his concrete basement floor. The new model that is being emulated across the country was created after a similar shooting. In 1988, police in Memphis were called to a disturbance of a man they also knew to be mentally ill. Police were told that he was high on cocaine and was wielding a knife. A cadre of officers shot the man dead. The outcry from the public was so loud and so long that the department decided to put in place a program that would prevent that type of tragedy from happening again. They looked around for a model and, finding none, created their own. Memphis Police Major Sam Cochran has been at the forefront of the movement to educate police officers about how to handle the mentally ill ever since. He believes the way law enforcement officials think about mental illness needs to be changed. ''You have to unlearn what you've already think you know,'' he said. Police recruits are just like anybody else, Cochran says. When they are 23, or 24 years old in the academy and getting their three or four hours of training in working with the mentally ill, they already have strong ideas in place of who these people are and how they behave. Plenty of real-life and fictional archetypes exist: Norman Bates, Hannibal Lecter, Jeffrey Dahmer. But the mentally ill are actually much more likely to be victims of crime than to be perpetrators. To overcome the stereotypes, the Memphis model calls for 40 hours of training for officers, including sessions designed to help them understand how the mentally ill experience the world. In Montgomery County, Md., which has adapted the course, officers take part in an exercise where they try to follow instructions while several people whisper in their ears, to simulate the voices a schizophrenic might hear. ''It's disorientating and difficult,'' said Cochran. ''The idea is to get these officers to empathize with what it feels like to have a mental illness.'' The results speak for themselves. In Memphis, officer injuries have been cut by 80 percent and injuries to the mentally ill have dropped by roughly half. The number of arrests resulting from mental illness calls is one-tenth of the national average, according to independent studies of the department. Though Cochran won't comment on specific cases outside of Memphis, he said that in a standoff, like the one involving Furtado, his officers have worked for as many as 20 hours to set up communication. They would only have stormed the house as a last resort. And unlike in Cambridge, where family members were not allowed to speak to Furtado, family members are sometimes used to establish a connection with a disturbed person on the other side of a wall, Cochran said. That's not what's taught at the Lowell Police Academy, where Cambridge police are trained. There~ emphasis is on control. Sergeant Thomas Fleming, who runs the academy, said the four-hour mental illness training focuses on ''how extremely dangerous these people can be. The guiding principle we use is to never underestimate an emotionally disturbed person.'' In Cambridge, the last time the department offered in-service training for officers on handling the mentally ill was in 1996, said Christina Beamud, legal adviser to the city's police department. ''We also sent out a memo on the issue in 1995.'' Cambridge Police Commissioner Ronnie Watson said the department works hard 2 to involve mental health specialists at situations with the mentally ill when it is feasible. Still, mental health advocates contend that Cambridge is not doing enough. Not when growing contact between police and the mentally ill is inevitable. In 1955, the state's mental hospitals housed 22,000 people. Today - after a second wave of hospital closings in the 1990s - that number has dropped to 1,100, according to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Most of those formerly institutionalized patients are prescribed drugs that enable them to live in communities. But almost all the mentally ill people police kill - and there are at least 50 a year nationwide - have one thing in common, according to Zdanowicz: They've stopped taking their drugs. Of the 5.5 million severely mentally ill people in the country, nearly 2 million aren't taking medication. The result: 16 percent of the people incarcerated in the United States are severely mentally ill, according to the Justice Department. At any given time, the Los Angeles County Jail houses more people with mental illness than any other institution in the country. While Boston and other area police departments have beefed up officer training, they still have a long way to go to reach the Memphis model, Richardson said. ''I think we're coming along. We're at least trying to get to the point were people are aware of what we need.'' Richardson acknowledged that the cost of the extra training probably means the Memphis model won't be used here soon. And the Furtado family is left wishing the police had acted differently. ''He was a good man, a good father, and a loving husband,'' Helena Martins said of her father. ''He didn't deserve this. He had an illness and he needed to be treated, but he wasn't an animal.'' Douglas Belkin can be reached at dbelkin@globe.com. This story ran on page BI of the Boston Globe on 8/2/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. Marian Karr From: Sent: To.' Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Monday, August 05, 2002 4:00 PM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] NYTimes.com Article: After Sept. 11, a Legal Battle Over Limits of Civil Liberty This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by hector.w.soto@phila.gov. After Sept. 11, a Legal Battle Over Limits of Civil Liberty August 4, 2002 By THE NEW YORK TIMES This article was reported and written by Adam Liptak, Neil A. Lewis and Benjamin Weiser. In the fearful aftermath of Sept. 11, Attorney General John Ashcroft vowed to use the full might of the federal government and "every available statute" to hunt down and punish "the terrorists among us." The roundup that followed the attacks, conducted with wartime urgency and uncommon secrecy, !ed to the detentions of more than 1,200 people suspected of violating immigration laws, being material witnesses to terrorism or fighting for the enemy. The government's effort has produced few if any law enforcement coups. Most of the detainees have since been released or deported, with fewer than 200 still being held. But it has provoked a sprawling legal battle, now being waged in federal courthouses around the country, that experts say has begun to redefine the delicate balance between individual liberties and national security. The main combatants are the attorney general and federal prosecutors on one side and a network of public defenders, i~igration and criminal defense lawyers, civil libertarians and some constitutional scholars on the other, with federal judges in between. The government's record has so far been decidedly mixed. As it has pushed civil liberties protections to their limits, the courts, particularly at the trial level, have pushed back, stopping well short of endorsing Mr. Ashcroft's tactics or the rationales he has offered to justify them. Federal judges have, however, allowed the government to hold two American citizens without charges in military brigs, indefinitely, incommunicado and without a road map for how they might even challenge their detentions. In the nation's history, the greatest battles over the reach of government power have occurred against the backdrop of wartime. Some scholars say the current restrictions on civil liberties are relatively minor by historical standards and in light of the risks the nation faces. The current struggle centers on three sets of issues. People held simply for immigration violations have objected to new rules requiring that their cases be heard in secret, and they have leveraged those challenges into an attack on what they call unconstitutional preventive detentions. People brought in and jailed as material witnesses, those thought to have information about terrorist plots, have argued that they should not be held to give testimony in grand jury investigations. Finally, Yasser Esam Hamdi and Jose Padilla, the two Americans labeled "enemy combatants" for what the government contends is more direct involvement with terrorist groups, are seeking rights once thought to be fundamental to American citizens, like a lawyer's representation and a chance to challenge their detentions before a civilian judge. So far, federal judges in Newark and Detroit have ordered secret deportation proceedings opened to public scrutiny, and on Friday a federal district judge in Washington ordered that the identities of most of the detainees be made public under the Freedom of Information Act. "Secret arrests," Judge Gladys Kessler wrote in the decision on Friday, "are a concept odious to a democratic society." A senior Justice Department official said the detentions had been lawful and effective. He said it was hard to "prove a negative" and cite specific terrorist acts that had been disrupted. But he said that department officials believed that the detentions had "incapacitated and disrupted some ongoing terrorist plans." Two federal judges in New York have differed sharply on whether the government may jail material witnesses while they wait to testify in grand jury investigations. In Virginia, a federal judge ordered the government to allow Mr. Hamdi to consult a lawyer. "I look at the federal district court judges and just cheer them on, because they are doing exactly what an independent judiciary should be doing," said Jane E. Kirtley, a professor at the University of Minnesota and former executive director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "It's not hostile or adversarial; it's simply skeptical." These lower-court decisions have for the most part not yet been tested on appeal, and there is reason to think that appeals courts and the Supreme Court will prove more sympathetic to the government's tactics and arguments. The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., for instance, reversed the decision to allow Mr. Hamdi to talk to a lawyer and ordered the lower court judge to consider additional evidence and arguments. But even the appeals court seemed torn, and it rejected the government's sweeping argument that the courts have no role in reviewing the government's designation of an American 2 citizen as an enemy combatant. The detention issues also carry an emotional punch. Many of the Arabs and Muslims caught in the government dragnet were cabdrivers, construction workers or other types of laborers, and some spent up to seven months in jail before being cleared of terrorism ties and deported or released. Last month, at a conference held by a federal appeals court, Warren Christopher, the secretary of state in the Clinton administration, snapped at Viet Dinh, an assistant attorney general under President Bush, saying that the administration's refusal to identify the people it had detained reminded him of the "disappeareds" in Argentina. "I'll never forget going to Argentina and seeing the mothers marching in the streets asking for the names of those being held by the government," Mr. Christopher said. "We must be very careful in this country about taking people into custody without revealing their names." Mr. Dinh, who came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam, recalled his family's anguish when his father was taken away in 1975 for "re-education." In contrast, he said, those detained by the United States were not being secretly held but were allowed to go to the press and seek lawyers. "These are not incognito detentions," he said. "The only thing we will not do is provide a road map for the investigations." According to the Justice Department, 752 of the more than 1,200 people detained since Sept. 11 were held on immigration charges. Officials said recently that 81 remained in detention. Court papers indicate there were about two dozen material witnesses, while most of the other detainees were held on various state and federal criminal charges. President Bush also has announced plans to try suspected foreign terrorists before military tribunals, though no such charges have been brought yet. Last month, William G. Young, the federal judge presiding in Boston over the criminal case against Richard C. Reid, a British citizen accused of trying to detonate a bomb in his shoe on a trans-Atlantic flight, noted that the very establishment of those tribunals "has the effect of diminishing the American jury, once the central feature of ~m~erican justice." Judge Young, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, added: "This is the most profound shift in our legal institutions in my lifetime and - most remarkable of all - it has taken place without engaging any bread public interest whatsoever." Jack Goldsmith and Cass R. Sunstein, professors at the University of Chicago Law School, have written that the Bush administration's policies are a minimal challenge to civil liberties especially compared with changes during the times of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. What has changed, they say, is a greater sensitivity to civil liberties and a vast increase in mistrust of government. The Secrecy 3 U.S. Says Hearings Are Not Trials Ten days after last September's attacks, Michael J. Crappy, the nation's chief immigration judge, quietly issued sweeping instructions to hundreds of judges for what would turn out to be more than 600 "special interest" immigration cases. "Each of these cases is to be heard separately from all other cases on the docket," Judge Crappy wrote. "The courtroom must be closed for these cases - no visitors, family, and no press." no "This restriction," he continued, "includes confirming or denying whether such a case is on the docket." The government has never formally explained how it decided which visa violators would be singled out for this extraordinary process, and it has insisted that the designations could not be reviewed by the courts. But as it turns out, most of these cases involved Arab and Muslim men who were detained in fairly haphazard ways, for example at traffic stops or through tips from suspicious neighbors. Law enforcement officials have acknowledged that only a few of these detainees had any significant information about possible terrorists. As the ruling on Friday in Washington suggests, a series of legal challenges to this secrecy has resulted in striking legal setbacks for the administration. Several courts have ordered the proceedings opened and have voiced considerable skepticism about the government's justifications for its detention policies generally. Lee Gelernt, a lawyer at the ~erican Civil Liberties Union, said the secrecy of the proceedings exacerbated the hardships faced by people who disappeared from sight on violations that in the past would not have resulted in incarceration. "Preventive detention," he said, "is such a radical departure from constitutional traditions that we certainly shouldn't be undertaking it solely on the Justice Department's say-so." Malek Zeidan's detention would have been unexceptional had it not given rise to one of the legal challenges that threatens to end the secret proceedings. Mr. Zeidan, 42, is a Syrian citizen who overstayed his visa 14 years ago and has lived in Paterson, N.J., for more than a decade. Over the years, he has delivered pizzas, driven an ice cream truck and pumped gas. When the Immigration and Naturalization Service came around last Jan. 31 to ask him about a former roommate suspected of marriage fraud, Mr. Zeidan was working at Dunkin' Donuts, and his expired visa soon cost him 40 days in custody. When a hearing was finally held three weeks after his detention, the judge closed the courtroom, excluding Mr. Zeidan's cousin and reporters. The closing of proceedings prompted lawsuits in federal court, from both Mr. Zeidan and two New Jersey newspapers. 4 In March, the government dropped the "special interest" designation, Mr. Zeiden was released after posting a bond, and the case he filed was dismissed. The immigration charges against him will be considered in the fall. "You're one of the lucky ones," his lawyer, Regis Fernandez, recalls Jelling Mr. Zeidan, given that other visa violators were held as long as six or seven months before being deported or released. Mr. Zeidan's lawyers believe that their legal strategy, which focused on openness, forced the government's hand. "The government was somehow linking secrecy to guilt," Mr. Fernandez said. "We figured if the public had access to these hearings they would see that nothing went on except multiple adjournments and delay." Through a spokeswoman, Judge Creppy declined to comment. An I.N.S. official, who spoke on the condition that he not he named, said the agency had acted properly in Hr. Zeidan's case and in similar cases. He said the immigration service had always detained people without bond who were linked to criminal investigations. He added that the agency had no choice now but to detain a visa violator until the Federal Bureau of Investigation was sure the person was not involved in terrorism. "Consider the flip side - that you held him for two days and then deported him, and 30 days later you found out he was a terrorist," the official said. The newspapers' lawsuit has continued. It has already once reached the Supreme Court, and the government's papers contain one of the fullest accounts of its position on secrecy and executive power. Its main argument is that the courts have no role because intmigration hearings are not really trials, but are merely administrative hearings that can be closed at will. Bennet Zurofsky, who also represented Mr. Zeidan, said he was flabbergasted by this suggestion. "A trial is a trial," he said. "A person's liberty is at stake. A person is being held in jail. A person is being told where to live." But in a sworn statement submitted in several court cases, Dale L. Watson, the executive assistant director for counterterrorism and counterintelligence at the F.B.I., outlined the reasoning behind the government demand for total secrecy. "Bits and pieces of information that may appear innocuous in isolation can be fit into a bigger picture by terrorist groups," he said. This rationale for withholding information, sometimes called the mosaic theory, is controversial. "It's impossible to refute," Professor Kirtley said, "because who can say with certainty that it's not true?" In May, John W. Bissell, the chief judge of the federal district court in Newark, appointed by President Reagan, ruled for the newspapers and ordered all deportation hearings nationwide to be opened, unless the government is able to show a need for a closed hearing on a case-by-case basis. His ruling followed a similar one in Detroit the month before, though that case involved only a single detainee. The government appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, and asked it to block Judge Bissell's order until the appeal was decided. The court, which will hear arguments in September, declined to do that. A number of news organizations, including The New York Times, filed a brief as a friend of the court in support of the newspapers. The government then asked the United States Supreme Court to stay Judge Bissell's order. The court, in a relatively unusual move given that the case was not before it for any other purpose, blocked Judge Bissell's order, suggesting that it might have mo~e sympathy for the government's arguments. The Witnesses Rights Violated, Lawyers Contend Late on Sept. 12, federal agents pulled two nervous Indian men, Mohammed Jaweed Azmath and Syed Gul Mohammed Shah, off an ~Lmtrak train near Fort Worth. They were carrying box cutters, black hair dye and about $5,000 in cash and had also shaved their body hair. The agents' suspicions were obvious. The hijackers had used box cutters and knives to take control of the aircraft and had received letters instructing them to "shave excess hair from the body." An F.B.I. affidavit dated Sept. 15 said there was probable cause to believe that both of the Indian men were involved in, or "were associated" with, those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. But even though government officials told reporters that the men had been detained as material witnesses, their lawyers now say that they were held last fall only on immigration violations. The distinction is important because a material witness warrant brings the automatic appointment of a government-paid lawyer, while the government does not have to supply a visa violator with counsel. As a result, the authorities were able to question each of the men repeatedly about terrorism without a lawyer present, their current lawyers say. Like some of the people who were picked up as material witnesses, the Indian men were held in isolation in jails in New York for extended periods. It was 91 days before Mr. Azmath received a lawyer and 57 days before Mr. Shah did, their lawyers say. "It's wrong to keep a man in jail for 57 days and never bring him before a magistrate to advise him of his rights," Mr. Shah's lawyer, Lawrence K. Feitell, said in an interview. "It's wrong not to provide him with an attorney at the threshold. It's wrong to depict this as an I.N.S. investigation, when in truth and in fact, it's the main 6 inquiry into the World Trade Center debacle." Anthony L. Ricco, the lawyer for Mr. Azmath, said his client was interrogated "often times for several hours a day, with multiple interviewers, getting rapid-fire questions from three or four different people." Eventually, the F.B.I. and the prosecutors cleared the men of any involvement in terrorism, and both pleaded guilty in June in a credit-card fraud scheme and are awaiting sentencing. Federal prosecutors said in court papers that both men consented to questioning. Each "was read and waived his Miranda rights before each interview," prosecutors wrote, adding that each man confessed to the credit card offenses. The United States attorney in Manhattan, James B. Comey, would not comment on the specific cases, but said generally of the government's tactics: "I don't see any violation of any rule, regulation, or law. "I can understand defense lawyers not being happy," he said. "But I know our position after 9/11 was to use every available tool, to stay within the rules but play the whole field and recognize the boundaries, but cover the whole field. "We need to do whatever we can that's legal to investigate and disrupt," he added. Today, it is believed that only a handful of the two dozen material witnesses, perhaps as few as two, are still being detained. But the process of detaining the witnesses has stirred intense criticism. Last April, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin of Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled that the use of the law "to detain people who are presumed innocent under our Constitution in order to prevent potential crimes is an illegitimate use of the statute." Judge Scheindlin said the material witness law applied when witnesses were held to give testimony at trials, not for grand jury investigations. "Since 1789," Judge Scheindlin said, "no Congress has granted the government the authority to imprison an innocent person in order to guarantee that he will testify before a grand jury conducting a criminal investigation." Then last month, Chief Judge Michael B. Mukasey, also of Federal District Court in Manhattan, upheld the government's use of the material witness statute in grand jury investigations, criticizing Judge Scheindlin's reasoning. Judge Mukasey, citing the assertion in 1807 by Chief Justice John Marshall that "the public has a right to every man's evidence," held that detentions of material witnesses during investigations are proper. The War Captives No Lawyers Allowed 7 Under U.S. Label Yasser Esam Hamdi, a Saudi national who was captured in Afghanistan, is probably an American citizen by virtue of having been born in Louisiana. His case represents the core issue of what kind of role the nation's courts should have, if any, in reviewing the government's imprisonment of someone charged with something akin to a war crime. Prosecutors will be back in Federal District Court in Norfolk, Va., next Thursday to confront one of the federal judges who has shown resistance to the government's approach that once someone is declared an "enemy combatant" by the president, all judicial review ceases. Judge Robert G. Doumar, an appointee of President Reagan, has twice ruled that Mr. Hamdi is entitled to a lawyer and ordered the government to allow Frank Dunham, the federal public defender, to be allowed to visit him without government officials or listening devices. Judge Doumar said that "fair play and fundamental justice" require it. He said the government "could not cite one case where a prisoner of any variety within the jurisdiction of a United States District Court, who was held incommunicado and indefinitely." But the three-judge panel of the appeals court stayed Judge Doumar's order, saying he had not fully considered the government's needs to keep Mr. Hamdi incommunicado and, more important, the executive branch's primacy in areas of foreign and military affairs. "The authority to capture those who take up arms against America belongs to the commander in chief," Chief Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson 3rd wrote for the appeals panel. But even Judge Wilkinson seemed to evince some surprise at the breadth of what the government was asserting when he asked the Justice Department's lawyer, "You are saying that the judiciary has no right to inquire at all into someone's stature as an enemy combatant?" The government has relented slightly, agreeing to provide the court with a sealed declaration of the criteria by which they have judged Mr. Hamdi to be an enemy combatant. But the government has argued that judges cannot argue with the standards. Judge Doumar has indicated that he will question the government closely on those standards. The case of Jose Padilla, which has not progressed as far as that of Mr. Hamdi, may present an even greater challenge to normal judicial procedures. Mr. Padilla, also known as Abdullah al-Muhajir, is, like Mr. Hamdi, an American citizen, imprisoned in a naval brig after having been declared an enemy combatant. But unlike Mr. Hamdi, Mr. Padilla was not arrested on the battlefield by the military but on United States soil by civil law enforcement authorities, on May 8 in Chicago. After his detention as a material witness based on suspicions that he was seeking to obtain material and information to build a radioactive bomb, he was transferred to military custody. 8 "This is the model we all fear or should fear," said Mr. Dunham, the public defender. "The executive branch can arrest an American citizen here and then declare him an enemy combatant and put him outside the reach of the courts. They can keep him indefinitely without charging him or giving him access to a lawyer or presenting any evidence." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/OS/O4/national/O4CIVI.html?ex=lO29565445&ei l&en 63ae543d55a35f10 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 onlinesales@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. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company *** eSafe scanned this email for malicious content ~* *** IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders ~** Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Samwalker@maiLunomaha.edu Monday, August 05, 2002 2:46 PM suelqq@aokcom mediation repot[ Our report on mediating citizen complaints is up on the COPS web site: www.usdoj.gov/cops then go to "Publications" Professor Samuel Walker Department of Criminal Justice University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, NE 68182-0149 402-554-3590 (o) 402-554-2326 (fax) 402-556-4674 (h) Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Boise City Ombudsman's Office [mailbox@boiseombudsman.org] Tuesday, August 06, 2002 9:28 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] Northern Ireland: Sinn Fein view of police ombudsman's report on bombing An Phoblacht/Republican News, 1 August 2002: Lifting the stone - the unaccountable nature of the Special Branch Over the next two weeks, GERRY KELLY, Sinn F~in spokesperson on policing, will examine what conceivably have been two of the biggest tests of effective accountability since the RUC became the PSNI - that is, the Ombudsman's report into the Omagh bomb and the new Policing Board's response to this. This week, he looks at the Ombudsman's Report. The Ombudsman's report on the RUC investigation into the Omagh bomb came as a shock to those with a casual interest in Irish political affairs. Those with direct and indirect experience of the Special Branch were not surprised at the nature or extent of these allegations. The essence of the report asserted that: * unnamed members of Special Branch obtained prior notice of the plan to bomb Omagh in August 1998; * this information was not passed to the relevant RUC personnel at the time; * incriminating evidence relating to this failure was systematically buried; * information relevant to the original RUC investigation into the bombings was withheld; and * there was a conspiracy to prevent Special Branch activities from coming to light during the subsequent investigation by the Ombudsman. Not surprisingly then, the Special Branch, with the support of Ronnie Flanagan, as a pre-emptive damage limitation exercise, attempted to undermine the Ombudsman through personal attacks on her office in advance of the publication of her report. The report supports a widely held view that the Special Branch has been allowed to operate with impunity throughout the conflict in the north. Their ability to do this has been reinforced by the British government's 'Police Act' Previous Special Branch activities have involved torture and ill-treatment of detainees and the implementation of a shoot-to-kill policy against suspected republican activists - areas which have been criticised by the European Court of Human Rights and by a large number of international human rights organisations. The Ombudsman~s report is a specific indictment of the role of the Special Branch in undermining the investigation into the Omagh bomb and a general criticism of its all-pervasive nature in dictating police force strategies and tactics More recently, it has again been demonstrated that Special Branch were party to the murder of Pat Finucane and a large number of nationalists as a consequence of arming and giving political and military direction to elements within the UDA. But in each and every circumstance where evidence of illegal police activity has emerged, or has been suspected, a cover-up has ensued. The Stalker/Sampson and Stevens reports were all subverted by the Special Branch in order to prevent such illegal activities from coming to light. British Intelligence destroyed evidence gathered by the Stalker team. Identified agents also received preferential treatment in the courts in return for their silence and co-operation whilst those agents who spoke out publicly about Special Branch activities known to them were jailed and discredited or were murdered, as in the case of William Stobie. The obvious conclusion, in the absence of prosecutions or court cases relating to Special Branch activity, is that they will do anything to protect their position of power and privilege and that they also enjoy the patronage of extremely powerful establishment figures. Moreover, the non-prosecution of Brian Nelson on the charge of murder by the then Attorney General Patrick Mayhew, the judicial support offered to those accused of involvement in shoot-to-kill operations and the refusal by Mayhew to prosecute Special Branch members exposed by the Stalker team, places the British government, at its highest levels, at the centre of the cover up. Guidelines have also come to light which clearly demonstrate that the Special Branch still enjoys precedence in relation to all policing activity, demonstrating the nature of politicised policing in the north of Ireland. These guidelines are contained within the Walker report and detail the nature of the relationship between Special Branch and the CID. This requires that arrests cannot proceed without the prior approval of the Special Branch in order to protect agents and informers. The report also highlights how Special Branch briefings relating to police investigations must always be conducted in such a way as to protect Special Branch agents. This, in my view, is the explanation for the lack of arrests or charges against UDA personnel in north Belfast who have been involved in a protracted campaign of bombings, shootings, pogrom and murder. In effect, the uniform branch and CID became a filter for the recruitment and protection of Special Branch agents. It was criticism of this influence that prompted Chris Patten, the Chairman of the Policing Commission, to refer to the need to eradicate the malign influence of this 'force within a force'. He recon%mended that the numbers involved in Special Branch be significantly reduced and that Special Branch be amalgamated with the CID under a single Assistant Chief Constable. It is Sinn F~in's position that this does not go far enough. The real issue relates to demonstrable control and accountability over the Special Branch and, just as significantly, to the eradication of the counter-insurgency mentality that justifies and condones such illegal activity on the part of the police force. One contributory factor, but not the primary one, is that many of today's Special Branch have been in place since before the first IRA 2 cessation eight years ago. The O'Loan report into the investigation of the Omagh bombing demonstrates that the Special Branch mentality and malpractice has survived Patten and will survive the scrutiny of the Ombudsman and the Policing Board in the absence of stronger powers of accountability overall. The Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, spoke generally of 'a failure of leadership', 'poor judgement and a lack of urgency' and a 'defensive and uncooperative approach' from senior police management. More specifically, she identified Special Branch denial of the existence of highly significant documents relating to intelligence issues; the withholding of access to identifiable documents; misleading Special Branch information to the Ombudsman inquiry; and the existence of a number of missing intelligence files. Ronnie Flanagan, the former head of Special Branch, and a fierce critic of the Ombudsman's findings, was specifically accused of sending 'factually wrong' information to the media concerning the quality of the information received prior to the Omagh bomb and of delaying the progress of the Ombudsman's inquiry by denying access to RUC intelligence and information. On this basis, the Ombudsman made six recommendations. Two of these related to an outside and independent investigation into the Omagh incident and other related activities; two related to lines of command and communication and access to intelligence; a fifth recommendation concerned the appropriate guidelines relating to a review of a murder inquiry. The remaining recommendation - and the one of most significance - was that a review should take place into the role and function of the Special Branch and its integration into the main body of the police force in the north. Although the Ombudsman may only recommend change, at any reading her report is both a specific indictment of the role of the Special Branch in undermining the investigation into the Omagh bomb and a general criticism of its all-pervasive nature in dictating police force strategies and tactics on the basis of its self defined counter-insurgency role. Despite this, and in spite of the unprecedented focus on the activities of the Special Branch, the fact is that these recommendations will not ensure that this all-encompassing aspect of the Special Branch is targeted and undermined. This of course is no fault of the Ombudsman. For like the Policing Board itself, her powers of inquiry - of holding the police force accountable - have been deliberately restricted by the British government. It is for this reason that: * Full implementation of the Ombudsman's recommendations will still allow the Special Branch to run informers and agents in an unaccountable manner. * There is nothing to challenge Special Branch primacy in relation to decision-making processes within the police force. * Both the Ombudsman and the policing board cannot effectively tackle allegations surrounding collusion with loyalism and Special Branch complicity in the murders of Pat Finucane and others. Special Branch corruption is an inevitable outcome in the presence of absolute power - the power over life and death in many cases - and in the absence of credible accountability measures. And the corruption does not stop there. Inevitably, when the Special Branch have seniority over every other section of the force, their corruption percolates all the way down. This is not adequately dealt with in the Ombudsman's report. Nor could it be. It is outside her remit. 3 The report concludes that 'it is in the interests of everyone that those responsible for this terrible atrocity (Omagh) are brought to justice'. It is also in everyone's interest that structures of accountability are created which are unwilling to condone the negative and corrosive influence of Special Branch activities and which can expose and prevent such activities. The British government is seeking to ensure this does not happen; to ensure that the partisan political control resides with the securocrats and that we have the shape but not the substance of democratic accountability. Sinn F~in will campaign until these barriers to an acceptable police service are removed. Update mailing list Update~nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 1:41 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] "Lawman of the Year" 'Lawman of the Year' By BOB HERBERT NYTimes 8 1 02 [] he state agency that monitors standards for law enforcement officers in Texas had already been warned about Tom Coleman when he was hired to conduct a bizarre one-man undercover drug operation that targeted the black population in Tulia, a small town on the Texas panhandle. Dozens of black people, and a handful of whites who had relationships with blacks, were arrested on July 23, 1999, after an 18-month "investigation" by Mr. Coleman that at times was as farcical as a Jim Carrey movie. Mr. Coleman, who is white, was a clownish and inept officer who threw away important evidence, made terrible mistakes when identifying suspects, routinely used racist language and on at least one occasion discharged his weapon accidentally. And yet, on his uncorroborated, unsubstantiated testimony, defendant after defendant was convicted of selling drugs, and some were sentenced to prison terms of 20 years, 60 years, 90 years and more For his exploits in Tulia, Mr. Coleman was given a state "Lawman of the Year" award. But even before the curtain rose on the Tulia farce, the sheriff in another jurisdiction, Cochran County, had complained to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement about Mr. Coleman's conduct. In a letter to the commission dated June 14, 1996, the sheriff, Ken Burke, said, "It is my opinion that an officer should uphold the law. Mr. Coleman should not be in law enforcement if he is going to do people the way he did in this town." Officials in Tulia said they didn't know about that complaint when they hired Mr. Coleman. But in the middle of his Tulia operation, Mr. Coleman was hit with misdemeanor charges of theft and abuse of his official position in Cochran County, where he had run up thousands of dollars in debts before abruptly leaving. Mr. Coleman's boss in Tulia, Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart, conveniently allowed his undercover cop to put his investigation on hold, giving him time to borrow money and resolve the Cochran County charges. Mr. Coleman's investigation in Tulia was incredibly shabby, but it led to the arrest of more than 10 percent of the town's black population. Erick Willard, a lawyer who defended two women accused by Mr. Coleman, said he had been stymied in his efforts to get Mr. Coleman's original, handwritten accounts of individual arrests. In some cases, said Mr. Willard, "The way he would record it was he'd lift up his pants leg and he'd write it on his leg." Notes committed to paper were just as difficult to come by. Mr. Willard said that during the discovery process he learned that secretaries had supposedly typed some of Mr. Coleman's reports from notes that were then "thrown away in a trash Dumpster." 8/6/02 Page 2 of 2 He said he was never able to find out who the secretaries were. Mr. Coleman liked to brag that he was "deep undercover," and that no one knew where he was or what he was doing, ,'not even the police." Mr. Willard's clients insisted they were innocent. Both took polygraph tests and, in Mr. Willard's words, "passed with flying colors." But lie detector tests are not admissible in court and the district attorney's office would not dismiss the charges. Both women pleaded no contest. They were sentenced to time already served, fined and released. Top officials in Tulia acknowledged that drugs were also sold and consumed by white and Hispanic residents, but Mr. Coleman focused almost exclusively on blacks. In a videotaped interview, parts of which were aired on a local television station, Mr. Coleman said he used the term "nigger" both on the job and in casual conversations with friends and family. He said he believed the word was no longer "as profane" as it once was. Mr. Coleman eventually packed up and left Tulia, but he soon found himself in trouble again -- this time in Ellis County. Joe Grubbs, the district attorney of Ellis County, whose office had hired Mr. Coleman, told me that, among other things, Mr. Coleman had engaged in contact with a woman that was "inappropriate." He would not give details. He said Mr. Coleman had also accidentally discharged his weapon during a drug raid, but no one had been injured. There were other problems, a "multiplicity" of problems. Said Mr. Grubbs: "He, in effect, put me in a position where I had to discharge him, and I did." 8/6/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 5:16 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Wanted in LA: Any Qualified Police Chief August 7, 2002 NYTimes Wanted in Los Angeles: Any Qualified Police Chief By MICHAEL JANOFSKY ~OS ANGELES, Aug. 6 -- So who will it be this time, an Anglo? Another African-American? Maybe a Hispanic for the first time? But from where, inside the department or outside? From the city's urban core or the valley? For a real change, how about a woman? Los Angeles is about to pick another police chief after the forced resignation of Bernard C. Parks four months ago. At least 50 candidates have applied, and it is hard to imagine that Mayor James K. Hahn, elected 14 months ago, could face a more sensitive decision than choosing from among three finalists to be recommended by the Police Commission by early next month. What might be harder to imagine is that shifting demographics in the nation's second-largest city and the inglorious departure of the last chief have not -- so far, at least -- collided to make the selection process any rowdier than it has been. Beyond a few expressions of concern by various interest groups, the process is playing out with reasonable calm, suggesting that residents -- even if grudgingly -- might embrace Mr. Hahn's choice as best qualified for the job, regardless of race, sex or geographical bearing. "To the credit of residents throughout the city, people on the street as well as elected leaders, I have not heard that much that the next chief of police needs to be Latino, African-American or anything else," Alex Padilla, president of the City Council, said in an interview. "The spirit of the message I'm hearing is that people just want someone who is going to do the job and do it well." Ethnic politics are not the sole major consideration for Mr. Hahn. The choice could also bear on secession votes in November in which residents will decide whether Hollywood and the vast collection of neighborhoods known as the San Fernando Valley should become separate cities. Residents of both regions have cited inadequate police response as one reason for independence. A chief who understands the differences between policing strategies in city neighborhoods and suburbs might help keep the city map intact. That requires someone with certain instincts, said Jack Weiss, a City Council member who opposes secession. "You can't just parachute in," Mr. Weiss said, citing two vastly different communities. "You have to know the difference between Pacoima and Palms" The search for a chief began after Chief Parks, the highest-ranking black in city government, resigned after a vote by the Police Commission, a civilian board that oversees the department, not to offer him an additional five-year contract, a decision that Mr. Hahn supported. 8/8/02 Page 2 of 3 Chief Parks, who succeeded the city's first chief who was black, Willie L Williams, ran afoul of the commission and Mr. Hahn for being reluctant to institute reforms after a scandal over planting evidence, for Iow department morale and for the widespread perception that he managed with a deaf ear to city leaders. His dismissal angered many blacks who felt betrayed after supporting Mr. Hahn last year in his election over Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Assembly speaker. Mr. Villaraigosa, a Hispanic politician, had strong support among Hispanic voters, who represent the largest ethnic group in the city, with 45 percent of the population. Nate Holden, a council member who is black and is a vocal supporter of Chief Parks, said many blacks remained angry. But the vacancy, combined with the growing power of Hispanic voters, has given Hispanic areas sufficient grounds to argue that the city is ready for its first Hispanic police chief. In June, the Latin American Law Enforcement Association, a group that represents Hispanic police officers, called a news conference where the president, Detective Art Placencia, reminded reporters that one-third of the 8,900 rank-and-file officers were Hispanic, that the Hispanic percentage among recruits was even higher and that 12 percent of the command staff was Hispanic. "We are not here today to demand that the next chief of the Los Angeles Police Department be Latino," Detective Placencia said. "But we are here to demand that the process by which the new chief is chosen be open, fair and inclusive." As an additional sign of Hispanic support, two other groups, one that represents black officers and the other Hispanic officers, joined last week to endorse Cmdr. George Gascon, a Hispanic 18-year veteran of the force. Sgt. Ronnie Cato, president of the black group, the Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation, said Commander Gascon had demonstrated exemplary leadership and a willingness to run a division that mirrored the city's diversity. "If the new chief is not sensitive to minority communities," Sergeant Cato said, "this city is going to explode again." The foundation might have put its support behind a leading black candidate from the force, but Sergeant Cato said none had emerged. "African-Americans feel like they got stabbed in the heart when Chief Parks was dismissed," he said. "No one trusts Mayor Hahn." To whatever degree lobbying efforts continue, city officials say they are heartened that so many candidates have expressed interest in a position that has often brought the holder uncommon attention, even for unfortunate reasons.. Chief Williams was nudged aside after one five-year term by Mayor Richard J. Riordan for his management style, free casino-sponsored trips to Las Vegas and ~ack of rank-and-file suppor[. Chief Williams's predecessor, Daryl F. Gates, retired in 1992 under pressure after the beating of Rodney King and the response to the riots that followed. The list of applicants includes insiders like Commander Gascon and two deputy chiefs, David Gascon, who is not related, and Peg York, as well as outsiders like former Police Commissioner William J. Bratton of New York; Chief Mark A. Kroeker of Portland, Ore.; and Chief Art Lopez of Oxnard. 8/8/02 Page 3 of 3 With so many candidates, the commission has hired consultants to help reduce the list to 12 or so for interviews before the finalists are submitted to Mr. Hahn. 8/8/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Carol DeProsse [cdeprosse@earthlink.net] Wednesday, August 07, 2002 6:33 PM jcnews@yahoogroups.com Re: I'icnews] Police endorse Nevada marijuana initiative This is great news. Yet more forward looking law enforcement agencies. >From: "Susan Dadt" <suzidadt@hotmail.com> >To: "jc news" <jcnews@yahoogroups.com> >Subject: [jcnews] Police endorse Nevada marijuana initiative >Date: Wed, Aug 7, 2002, 10:20 AM > > This is an interesting development in the War on Drugs. > > The Marijuana Policy Project's initiative campaign in Nevada has done > the impossible: We have secured the endorsement of the Nevada > Conference of Police and Sheriffs. With more than 3,000 members > statewlde, NCOPS is the largest police association in Nevada. > > http://www. NRLE.org ? "Nevadans for > Responsible Law Enforcement" is the name of our PAC in Nevada. Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > To unsuDscribe from this group, send an email to: > jenews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is suDjeet to http://doos.yahoo.eom/info/terms/ > > ........................ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ........................ > 4 DVDs Free +s&p Join Now http: //us. click, yahoo, com/pt 6YBB/NXiEAA/Ey. GAA/kj OolB/TM To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: jcnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Marian Karr Page 1 of 9 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 10:40 PM To: Update@NACOLEorg Subject: [NACOLE Update] PRince Georges Co: Flawed Police Decisions Deadly Flawed Police Decisions Turned Deadly Innocent Man Slain in 2000 Secret Pursuit, but Pr. George's Offers Few Answers By Craig Whitlock Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, August 4, 2002; Page A01 His voice quaking and his gun emptied, Cpl. Carlton B. Jones of the Prince George's County Police Department dialed 911 on his cellular phone. A man had just rammed his unmarked vehicle, he reported, and he had opened fire in self-defense. As Jones muttered obscenities, confessing he was "scared half to death," the 911 operator asked him whom he had shot. There was a long pause. "Chenier Hartwell," Jones finally replied, a recording of the call shows. "That should be his name, Chenier Hartwell. I've got his case file somewhere in my car. Jesus." In fact, the man who lay wounded nearby on a quiet residential street in Fairfax County on Sept. 1, 2000, was someone else: Prince C. Jones Jr., a Howard University student driving to a late-night rendezvous with his fiancee. He died soon after, not knowing who had shot him five times in the back, or why. The 911 conversation is contained in confidential files and reports collected by investigators and lawyers involved in the case. Despite promises by authorities to get to the bottom of the shooting, which occurred after police mistakenly tailed the man through Maryland, the District and into Virginia, many details have remained secret for almost two years. The FBI, Fairfax County police, the Fairfax commonwealth's attorney and Prince George's police all investigated the matter but have not made their findings public. None of the officers involved in the shooting or the three-hour surveillance operation that led to it has been disciplined or charged with a crime. But an examination of thousands of pages of records --including sworn depositions, police investigative reports, court documents, photographs and forensic evidence -- produces a clearer picture of a fatal shooting that seized the public's attention for weeks and prompted an ongoing federal investigation into the use of deadly force by the Prince George's Police Department. Although the records provide the most complete account to date, many questions remain unanswered. And in piecing together what happened during the shooting, investigators were forced to rely almost solely on the account of Cpl. Jones, the only person present on the dark street who is still alive. Disguised as a Dealer 8/8/02 Page 2 of 9 About 9 p.m. Aug. 31,2000, Carlton Jones showed up to work, wearing a disguise. He wanted to look like a Jamaican drug dealer; his hair was knotted in dreadlocks, and he wore a white T-shirt and jeans. It was normal attire for his job as an undercover detective, assigned to a narcotics squad based in the Prince George's Police Department's Hyattsville station. Like the man he would secretly tail for 25 miles across the nation's capital and into two states, Carlton Jones had attended Howard University, where he majored in zoology but did not receive a degree. He joined the Prince George's police in 1994. In 1999, his career was jeopardized when a Landover man accused Jones of falsely arresting him on gun charges, based on evidence that the officer knew was untrue. A police disciplinary panel found Jones guilty of lying about a criminal investigation and violating ethical standards. Although he could have been fired, records show that the department stripped him of his corporal's rank for a few months and let him return to work as a detective. Last year, after learning about the discipline in the press, Prince George's prosecutors said they would drop all criminal cases handled by Jones, saying they could no longer vouch for his truthfulness on the witness stand. Jones declined to be interviewed for this article. According to his attorney, Prince George's police officials have ordered him not to comment. His supervisor on the narcotics squad in Hyattsville was Sgt. Alexandre Bailey, who also came to work in a T-shirt and jeans. As an undercover officer involved in drug buys, he usually played the role of a crackhead. Bailey, then a 12-year veteran, had earned a reputation as an aggressive investigator. In December 2000, Bailey said in a deposition that he had been involved in two shootings. He also said police officials had investigated at least 10 excessive force complaints against him but cleared him each time. Through a police spokesman, Bailey declined to comment for this article. When they reported for duty at the Hyattsville station, Bailey told Carlton Jones that they would work together that night. They had a simple assignment: Find a man named "Pig." Officer's Gun Stolen Derrell L. "Pig" Gilchrist, 24, was a source of great frustration for the Prince George's narcotics squad. Ten weeks earlier, someone had stolen a pistol belonging to a detective who had left it in his police cruiser, an embarrassing violation of department rules. The detective and his colleagues were looking feverishly for the weapon and suspected that Gilchrist had taken it, though they had no proof, records show. Twice that summer, police stopped Gilchrist at an intersection in Hyattsville, but both times, he evaded them by speeding off, according to police reports and court documents. Detectives said they believed that he was dealing crack. Again, however, they had no proof. Carlton Jones and Bailey said their mission late Aug. 31, 2000, was to learn where Gilchrist lived so they could obtain a warrant to search his home, according to depositions they gave in a lawsuit filed by Prince Jones's mother on behalf of his estate. The two officers said their aim was not to arrest Gilchrist, although he was suspected of committing several felonies. They wanted to find the officer's gun. And for that, they needed the search warrant. 8/8/02 Page 3 of 9 The officers said an informant had told police that Gilchrist was hanging out that night near Kennedy and Fifth streets in Northeast Washington, about four miles from the Prince George's line. They decided to look for him there, although they had no authority outside Prince George's County. The two detectives communicated with each other via two-way radio and their personal cell phones, saying they wanted to avoid eavesdroppers who might be listening in on police channels. They slowly cruised Kennedy Street in unmarked vehicles: Bailey in a green Chevrolet Silverado pickup; Jones in a gray Mitsubishi Montero Sport. They stayed out of each other's sight to avoid attracting attention. After about 45 minutes, Jones spotted a black Jeep Cherokee with two people inside, near a dance club on Georgia Avenue NW. Gilchrist drove a black Jeep Cherokee, but Jones said in his deposition that he did not think it was him. This one had Pennsylvania license plates Man's Final Hours At 10:30 p.m., Prince Jones locked the doors to the Bally Total Fitness Club at Prince George's Plaza in Hyattsville. He was upbeat; he had sold many memberships that day. Jones, 25, was a tall, sinewy fitness instructor. Although he had had encounters with the law over domestic abuse allegations, friends described him as a spiritual man who regularly attended church, studied tai chi and generally stayed out of trouble. He came from a well-to-do family. His mother, a radiologist on Philadelphia's Main Line, insisted that her children receive a top-notch education. After attending a prep school and graduating near the top of his class, Jones enrolled at Howard. He was one class from graduating. After closing the gym, he and friend Vernon L. Robertson Jr., 28, decided to kick off the Labor Day weekend with a drink. They hopped in Jones's black 1998 Jeep Cherokee, which had Pennsylvania tags because it was leased to his mother. The pair drove to the District, stopping at a strip joint called the Macombo Lounge on Georgia Avenue NW. They spent about two hours there, nursing drinks, chatting. "He was just a talker," Robertson said in a deposition. "He would just talk and talk and talk, you know, expressing how he felt." Robertson said he had two beers, while his friend had one. Toxicology tests show that Jones had a blood alcohol content of 0.02 when he died, a level consistent with one drink. About 1:30 a.m., Jones and Robertson drove back to Prince George's County They stopped at the Cypress Creek Apartments on 16th Avenue in Chillum, where Robertson's girlfriend lived. She baby-sat for Jones's 10-month-old, Nina. The baby was asleep when her father arrived. The adults settled in to watch television in the living room. About 2 a.m., the phone rang. On the line was 22-year-old Candace Jackson, the baby's mother and Jones's fiancee~ She was upset. Jones and Nina were supposed to spend the night at her home in Fairfax County, but it was late and she didn't know where they were. The couple's relationship was fragile and sometimes violent. In 1999 and 2000, police investigated four domestic abuse complaints involving the couple. Although Jackson never pressed charges, she told police that they had repeatedly punched and kicked each other. During a fight when she was seven months pregnant, Jones struck her in the jaw and 8/8/02 Page 4 o£9 twice pushed her to the ground, according to police reports. On the phone, Jones told Jackson that he had done a lot of thinking. He was ready to get married, settle down and work things out. "He told me that he had sort of been praying and thinking throughout the day, and he wanted to know if I was willing to start anew with him," she said in a deposition. About 20 minutes into the conversation, Jackson interrupted to say there was a knock at her door. The visitor was a tall, skinny bartender with dreadlocks. Jackson had previously confessed to Jones that she and the man had shared a one-night stand. But there he was again. Jackson told Jones who the visitor was. Don't worry, I'm going to tell him to leave, she said. Jones was not pleased. I'm coming right over, he said. Doomed Pursuit Begins Carlton Jones had continued cruising the streets of Washington in a fruitless search for Derrell Gilchrist. He'd had enough. He radioed his supervisor, Bailey, and they decided to head to the police station in Hyattsville On the way, Jones made a detour. He said he wanted to check an address on 16th Avenue in Chillum. One of Gilchrist's friends, Chenier Hartwell, lived in an apartment there. As Jones slowly passed Hartwell's apartment, Jones noticed a Jeep Cherokee pulling into a parking space about 100 yards away. It was a black Jeep with Pennsylvania tags - the one he had seen earlier. He said he saw a man get out and enter a nearby apartment. This time, the detective paid more attention. Maybe it was Gilchrist after all. He called a police dispatcher on his cell phone and asked for a check on the license plate number. "1 felt thero were too many coincidences going on for it to be nothing," Jones said in his deposition. He knew Gilchrist drove a black Jeep, and here was a black Jeep near Gilchrist's friend's apartment, the same Jeep he had seen an hour earlier while looking for Gilchrist in the District. Jones said he suspected that Gilchrist had swapped tags with another Jeep to throw off police. The dispatcher reported that the tags were registered to a Jeep Cherokee owned by a Pennsylvania woman named Mable Jones. The registration made no mention of Gilchrist or Hartwell. Neither the Jeep and nor the Pennsylvania tags had been reported stolen. This Jeep was listed as a 1998 model. According to motor vehicle records in the detective's files, Gilchrist drove a 1996 Jeep. was another discrepancy, but not enough to deter the police from thinking they had found their man. Fatal Assumptions Made 8/8/02 Page 5 of 9 Carlton Jones said he radioed Bailey about the Jeep and waited a few minutes. But then, with the Jeep still parked, he decided to return to the police station. In his deposition, Jones was unclear about why he left. "] figured I could always come back a little bit later to check to see if the vehicle was still there," he said. He had not completed his mission, however, which was to verify Gilchrist's address so police could obtain a search warrant. Bailey gave a different account. In his deposition, he testified that Jones told him on the radio that he was heading back to the station because he had lost sight of the Jeep. "He said, 'Oh, I lost the car, Sarge. I don't know where the guy went.'" Regardless, Bailey said, he agreed to call off the search. Both officers headed toward the police station. It was about 2:30 a.m. A few minutes later, however, Bailey's voice crackled on the radio: I'm on Chillum Road and I see the Jeep, he told his partner. Let's go. Reluctantly, Jones turned around. He said he asked Bailey whether they could call off the surveillance but was told no. "1 was.., basically told in so many words, well, come on, you're going That's it," he said in his deposition. "It was kind of understood - hurry your ass up and get back here." Neither officer knew who was driving the Jeep. Both said they assumed it was Gilchrist, or possibly Hartwell. Bailey took the lead as Jones tried to catch up, with both officers following from a distance to avoid detection. The Jeep took a left on Sargent Road in Chillum and crossed back into the District, taking a right on Michigan Avenue. They drove past Catholic University, then south on Fourth Street NE. As they crossed Rhode Island Avenue, the detectives swapped positions, with Bailey falling to the rear, a few blocks behind. The Jeep made a right turn onto New York Avenue, then a left into the Third Street Tunnel and Interstate 395. They were going to Virginia, far out of their range as Prince George's County police officers. They did not notify authorities in Fairfax County that they were coming, nor did they tell anyone in Prince George's their whereabouts. As they crossed the 14th Street bridge over the Potomac River, Jones followed the Jeep past Arlington National Cemetery and west on Route 50. He said he thought his supervisor was right behind him the entire way, but Bailey later testified that he had gotten lost on 1-395 and kept going south, to the Capital Beltway. Jones continued to follow the Jeep through Seven Corners in Falls Church. Jones saw the Jeep make a U-turn onto a service road along Route 50 before it disappeared into a well-manicured neighborhood of $300,000 homes. The detective said in his deposition that he didn't know where he was, but he kept going. He paused at Beechwood Lane and Spring Terrace and looked around. To his left, he said, he saw the silhouette of a Jeep in a driveway, its lights dark. As he passed by to take a closer look, he said, the Jeep flashed on its lights and took off in the opposite direction. Jones cursed. He had blown his cover. Statements Conflict The detective's accounts of what happened next are confusing, contradictory and marked by critical gaps. 8/8/02 Page 6 of 9 In the deposition Carlton Jones gave in the civil suit, he said he wanted to flee -- the police considered Gilchrist armed and dangerous. 'Tm thinking, I just need to leave, period," the officer said. "1 knew that it wasn't a good situation to be in." But instead of driving away from the Jeep, Jones said, he stopped his Montero in the middle of the street and tried to U- turn so he could continue his pursuit. Jones said he was lost and didn't know another way out of the neighborhood. In a statement to Fairfax investigators, however, Jones gave no indication that he was concerned about his safety. He said he kept following the Jeep because he wanted to confirm where Gilchrist was staying. "1 was figuring, 'What the heck, I'm burnt. I will at least get the address,'" he said. But rather than take advantage of the clear escape route before him, the Jeep's driver suddenly braked hard when he saw Carlton Jones turning to continue the pursuit, according to the police officer's account. The Jeep shifted into reverse and raced backward, coming within inches of the Montero's driver's-side door before Carlton Jones could complete his U-turn. The man in the Jeep, who was unarmed, hopped out and ran toward the officer, whose car door was pinned shut by the Jeep. Carlton Jones said he raised his gun out the window and yelled, "Police, get back in your vehicle!" He did not show his badge, which was on the passenger's seat, or his identification, which was in his back pocket. The Jeep's driver was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 211 pounds, according to his autopsy report. Records show that "Pig" Gilchrist was almost a foot shorter and much heavier, at 5 feet 4 inches and 250 pounds. Hartwell was also shorter but much skinnier, at 5 feet 9 inches and 135 pounds. Carlton Jones said in his deposition that he saw a tall, slim male and that "1 was operating under the belief that this was very possibly either Gilchrist or Hartwell." He said he couldn't tell for sure, although he was less than eight feet away and both vehicles had their lights on. In his deposition, he testified that he had seen both men on at least two previous occasions, but from a distance. The driver climbed back Jn his Jeep and drove away. Carlton Jones said he stuck his gun in his belt. As he sat there in the middle of the road, "trying to put my brain back in gear [and] calm down," he said, he looked up and saw two taillights rushing toward him. Its engine racing, the Jeep backed into the Montero, denting the driver's-side door post and quarter panel. Then the Jeep sped about 200 feet away, stopped and reversed a second time, hitting the Montero in the same spot, according to the detective. The Jeep sped offto the end of the block, where it reversed and barreled toward the unmarked police vehicle again. Just before the vehicles slammed together a third time, Jones said, he pointed his gun at his assailant Bullets Find Target The officer squeezed the trigger of his Beretta 92 FS semiautomatic pistol 16 times, until there was no more ammunition. Eight of the bullets hit their target, crashing through metal, glass and plastic before striking flesh. One bullet grazed the top of Prince Jones's left shoulder as he sat in the driver's seat of the Jeep. Two slugs pierced his right arm. The rest ripped into his back, leaving a row of holes along his spine from his collar to his waist. The gunshots tore through a lung, damaged a kidney and destroyed his liver, according to the autopsy report. 8/8/02 Page 7 of 9 After absorbing the bullets, Jones mustered the strength to try to escape He shifted gears from reverse to drive and sped east in the 6400 block of Spring Terrace in Fairfax County. The Jeep covered about 200 yards before it crashed into a Honda Civic parked in a driveway. It was just short of Jones's intended destination: his fiancee's home across the street. When Fair[ax police officer J.D. Hommel arrived moments later, he heard rap music blaring from the Jeep's radio. The engine was running. Inside, Jones was lying between the front bucket seats, face up, breathing but unconscious. He was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital. A trauma surgeon told police that he thought Jones would pull through. But four hours later, his organs battered, he was pronounced dead. In his deposition, Carlton Jones said he was virtually paralyzed by fear and panic during the entire episode. He said he was unable to drive away or unbuckle his seat belt and run from the scene. He said he could not explain how he was able to draw his gun and shoot, because his mind went blank at the end; he did not remember pulling the trigger 16 times. But he was certain that his use of deadly force was justified. "Not only had this person tried to block me in the vehicle intentionally once, twice, and they demonstrated that they wanted to do it a third time And somewhere in there, I felt that my life was in jeopardy," he said. Carlton Jones was not injured in the impacts, although he said his back was sore afterward. Photographs of his Montero show dents in the driver's-side door. They appear to be no more than three inches deep. Victim Investigated Fair[ax County police conducted a six-week criminal investigation into the death of Prince Jones. About three hours after the shooting, Detective David W. Allen of the homicide division interviewed Carlton Jones for about 90 minutes in the presence of a defense attorney. The homicide detective took few notes. Afterward, he took a formal, taped statement from the Prince George's officer. It lasted 11 minutes and contained answers to 14 questions, according to a transcript. Allen and Fair[ax police officials declined to comment for this article. But in a deposition, Allen testified that he saw no reason to doubt Carlton Jones's account. It was clear to him, he said, that Prince Jones was the aggressor and that his killer was justified in using deadly force. "In my opinion, he did what a reasonable person would do under the situation," Allen said of the officer. Allen said he knew that Carlton Jones had been disciplined for lying but was unconcerned and did not need to investigate the officer's background. He said it did not matter whether he had shot anyone before, how many misconduct complaints he had or whether personal problems might have influenced his actions. Instead, the homicide investigator focused on the background and personal life of Prince Jones. According to copies of their notes, Fairfax police examined the possibility that Prince Jones might have been involved in the drug trade and interviewed several people to determine whether he knew Gilchrist or Hartwell. They spoke to his minister about his personal life and checked his academic record. They scrutinized his relationship with his fiancee and dug up the domestic abuse reports, saying it was important to determine whether Jones was prone to violence. They also conducted exhaustive background checks on people who had contact with Prince Jones the night of the shooting, including his friend Vernon Robertson and the babysitter. "We needed to find out what made this person tick," Allen said in the deposition. "Why would this person, who seemingly 8/8/02 is an honest, you know, law-abiding citizen, why would he all of a sudden ram a policeman's car?" Page 8 of 9 Different people offer different answers to that question. Lawyers for Prince Jones's mother said the Howard student was desperate to elude an armed man dressed as a Jamaican drug dealer who had tailed him for 25 miles. They pointed out that Carlton Jones waved his gun but never showed his badge. "It is our firm belief from our investigation that clearly, Prince Jones was in fear for his life," said Ted J. Williams, one of the attorneys representing Jones's mother. "He didn't know that this was, in fact, a law enforcement officer, so he tried to immobilize that vehicle in an effort to get away." There are indications that Jones knew early on that he was being followed Both Prince George's detectives said in their depositions that the driver of the Jeep was "trying to clean himself," or take evasive driving actions to shake his pursuers. Some Prince George's police officials familiar with the case offered another explanation: They suggested that Prince Jones mistakenly assumed that his pursuer was the romantic rival who had visited his fiancee that night, prompting him to ram the vehicle out of jealousy or anger. Those officials pointed out that both the bartender and Carlton Jones wore dreadlocks and might have resembled each other. No Charges Filed On Oct. 23, 2000, Fairfax police completed their investigation and Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. announced that he would not charge Carlton Jones in the killing of Prince Jones. Horan ruled that Carlton Jones justifiably used deadly fome because he legitimately feared for his life; the detective thought he was following a dangerous felon who was under investigation for stealing a police gun and for assaulting several officers with a vehicle. Horan did not identify the felon. The same day, however, Prince George's police arrested Derrell Gilchrist. Police later said Gilchrist had struck several officers in hit-and-run encounters and identified him as the person whom Carlton Jones thought he shot Sept. 1. The public explanations appear to exaggerate the threat that Gilchrist posed.. Police said Gilchrist had struck four officers with a sport-utility vehicle on two occasions in June and July 2000. But court records show that he did not hit anyone - the officers acknowledged that the vehicle never touched them and that they were unhurt. Police and court documents also show that Carlton Jones and other Prince George's officers had easy opportunities to arrest Gilchdst in the weeks before the Prince Jones shooting but let him go. On the first occasion, records show, Carlton Jones allowed Oilchrist to pick up his sport-utility vehicle from a police impound lot -- even though he had allegedly used the same vehicle to run over police officers days before. On the second occasion, Jones and other narcotics officers were secretly following Gilchrist when they saw him enter a police station to visit his probation officer. They decided not to arrest him, saying they were more interested in finding out where he lived than in charging him with assaulting police officers. Regardless of how dangerous police considered Gilchrist to be, the 911 tape makes clear that Carlton Jones thought he had shot someone else: Chenier Hartwell. Despite that, Prince George's police have insisted publicly -- and erroneously -- for almost two years that the detective assumed he had opened fire on Gilchrist. Unlike Gilchrist, Hartwell had not been accused of running over police officers, nor was he suspected of stealing a gun. 8/8/02 Rather, court records show that Prince George's police arrested Hartwell on Oct. 18, 2000. His alleged crimes: a probation violation and failure to pay child support. Page 9 o£9 Department Under a Cloud In the decade before Prince Jones's death, Prince George's officers shot an average of one person a month -- far more than almost any other county in the United States. During the same period, the police department recorded more fatal shootings per officer than any major city or county police force in the nation. Despite that record, Prince George's police rarely encountered a public backlash for shooting people. But the death of the well-liked college student provoked an outcry that lasted for several weeks. Hundreds of Prince Jones's classmates held rallies, Washington's airwaves were filled with angry talk about police brutality, and then-Vice President Al Gore expressed concern. John S. Farrell, then Prince George's police chief, complained that the Prince Jones case received more media attention than Jack the Ripper did during the serial killer's heyday. Farrell disclosed few details about the shooting, but he promised that the department would complete an internal investigation "as expeditiously as possible." In July 2001, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would not prosecute Carlton Jones on civil rights charges, saying it did not find evidence that the officer knowingly used excessive force. In April, the Prince George's Police Department gave Alexandre Bailey a Gold Medal of Honor, its highest award, for heroism in an unrelated case. A few weeks later, a police panel found Carlton Jones's supervisor not guilty of unbecoming conduct in the death of Prince Jones. A police spokesman said Bailey has since submitted his resignation, effective today. Almost two years after the shooting, the police department's internal affairs probe of Carlton Jones remains open. He is on military leave, having been called to serve with his Army National Guard unit after Sept. 11. Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report. © 2002 The Washington Post Company 8/8/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 10:40 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Prince George's Officers Not Guilty in Bite Case washingtonpost.com Prince George's Officers Not Guilty in Bite Case By Ruben Castaneda Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, August 2, 2002; Page B04 Two Prince George's County police officers charged with assaulting a burglary suspect in January with a baton and a police dog were acquitted of all charges yesterday by a Circuit Court judge. Moments after a Prince George's prosecutor completed his closing argument, Circuit Court Judge E. Allen Shepherd acquitted Cpl. James C. Partenza and Cpl. Mark Elie, a canine officer, of second- degree assault. Without comment, Shepherd also acquitted Elie of a charge of misconduct in office. The two officers had waived their right to a jury trial in favor of a bench trial. On Wednesday, Shepherd dismissed the more serious charges of first-degree assault and reckless endangerment against both officers. He also tossed out a charge of misconduct in office against Partenza. Surrounded by family members and other supporters who took turns hugging him, Elie, 36, wept softly in a courthouse hallway after Shepherd rendered his verdict. Inside the courtroom, Partenza, also 36, accepted congratulations from relatives and other supporters. The verdict was another setback for Prince George's State's Attorney Jack B. Johnson (D), who is making his prosecutions of police misconduct a cornerstone of his campaign for county executive. Although Johnson's office has brought several cases alleging on-duty misconduct in recent years, it has failed to obtain a conviction. Yesterday, Johnson brushed aside suggestions that the officers were indicted for political reasons. "It was a case that needed to be brought. You had one officer who believed that the other officer acted not in accordance with the law," Johnson said. "The judge tried it. I guess he had reasonable doubt." Johnson obtained indictments against Partenza and Elie in connection with a Jan. 20 incident in the garage of the Sunoco gas station at Riggs Road and Eastern Avenue, where the officers responded to a reported break-in and encountered Hector Millan, 28, hiding behind a toolbox. When he announced the indictments March 22, Johnson alleged that Partenza hit Millan with his police baton after Millan raised his hands and surrendered. VVhen Millan fell to the ground, Elie released his police dog, which bit Millan on the arms while Partenza kept hitting the suspect, Johnson alleged. Elie then released his dog again, Johnson said. The indictments were based largely on the testimony of Cpl. Joseph Diaz, whose report to a supervisor of potential misconduct prompted the investigation. But the evidence Johnson's prosecutors presented during the four-day trial was often contradictory. 8/8/02 Page 2 of 2 Millan testified more than two dozen times that he could not recall details of the event. He testified that the police dog was released once, found him and bit his left arm. In contrast, Diaz testified that Elie released the dog a second time. Diaz testified that he did not see Partenza do anything improper. Partenza testified yesterday that he was standing near the toolbox when he holstered his gun, thinking the suspect was gone. Suddenly, Elie's dog raced toward him; Partenza testified he took out his baton, thinking he might have to hit the canine to defend himself. Instead, the dog went to the toolbox and started sniffing under its door, Partenza testified. The door opened, and there was Millan, an arm's length away, his left hand clenched, Partenza testified. Partenza testified that he swung twice at Millan's hand and hit him once in the head accidentally. Timothy F. Maloney, Elie's attorney, and William C. Brennan, Partenza's attorney, said yesterday that they were so certain of their clients' innocence that they offered to let them them testify before the grand jury unconditionally. Johnson rejected their offer in writing, the attorneys said. "This case would have never been indicted if the officers had been allowed to testify," Maloney said. 8/8/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Thursday, August 08, 2002 8:35 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] NYTimes.com Article: Metro Briefing: New York ...................... Forwarded by Hector W Soto/PCHR/Phila on 08/08/2002 09:26 AM ........................... hector.w.soto@phila.gov@msl.lga2.nytimes.com on 08/08/2002 09:19:20 AM Please respond to hector.w.soto@phila.gov Sent by: articles-email@msl.lga2.nytimes.com To: cc: hector.w.soto@phila.gov Subject: NYTimes.com Article: Metro Briefing: New York This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by hector.w.soto@phila.gov. Metro Briefing: New York August 8, 2002 NL~NHATTAN: POLICE SUIT ADVANCES A federal civil rights suit brought by black and Hispanic officers against the New York Police Department has been granted class-action status. Without ruling on the suit's merits, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled on Tuesday that it would be inefficient to hold separate trials for individual officers' claims. The suit, filed in 1999 by the Latino Officers Association, accuses the department of creating a hostile work environment for its 6,000 Hispanic and 5,000 black officers. The suit charges that black and Hispanic officers are disciplined more severely and that officers who complain suffer retaliation. The suit asks for unspecified damages, an end to discrimination and for changes in the disciplinary system. The city denies the allegations. Benjamin Weiser (NYT) Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org 1 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Malvina Monteiro [mmonteiro@ci.cambridge.ma.us] Thursday, August 08, 2002 10:11 AM Jonathon S. Chapman; Leslie English; Gloria Pimentel; Sue Quinn Records open in Furtado shooting By Robert Greene / Chronicle Staff Thursday, August 8, 2002 It was dark in the Furtado basement on the afternoon of July 15 - the power was out, and the only light available got there through a small window. Exposed beams tied the basement ceiling's height down to a little under 6 feet An average-sized man, say one of Daniel Furtado's 5-foot, 9-inch stature, might be able to walk there comfortably with only a slight incline of his head. A taller man, one wearing combat boots and a helmet, would likely be forced into a crouch to keep his head from bumping the shadowed beams. That was the environment that greeted seven Cambridge police officers last month, as they stacked up, checked their gear and headed into the unknown. Quick minutes later, Daniel Furtado lay dying on his basement floor, pierced by three 9 mm bullets fired by Cambridge Officer Darcy Lowe. The bullets struck Furtado in his right shoulder, the left side of his torso and his upper chest. Lowe was the first man down the stairs, according to reports released to the public this week by the Cambridge Police Department and the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. He was the designated "bunker," leading the way while carrying a 2-by-4-foot ballistic shield. He watched through a rectangular hole cut into the shield as Furtado came out of the darkness at him with a 12-inch long hatchet. "As I began to walk down the flight of stairs carrying a body shield, Furtado appeared and began to advance forward with a hatchet in his hand," Lowe reported to his superiors in documents released nearly three weeks after the incident. "Ignoring my commands to drop his weapon, Furtado continued his advance until he was a short distance to me and struck my body shield several times with his hatchet." Behind Lowe was Officer Silverio Ferreira, carrying a pump-action 12-gauge "less-than-lethal" shotgun. The gun was loaded with "Super Sock Bean Bags," ammo meant to hurt and stun rather than kill, and Ferreira fired three rounds at Furtado as the homeowner struck Lowe's shield with the hatchet three to four times. Ferreira reported later that he had no idea if he ever hit Furtado with the "socks." Behind Ferreira, Officer George Tavares deployed his O.C. [oleoresin capsicum, or pepper] spray in an attempt to drive Furtado away or subdue him. "... I sprayed the suspect with O.C. Spray and it had negative results," Tavares reported. But whether from the shotgun blasts or the pepper spray, Furtado retreated into the darkened basement. With nowhere to go in the poorly ventilated space, the mist from the O.C. Spray began to affect the officers and they returned to the kitchen upstairs. One, maybe two minutes had passed since they started their journey. In the kitchen, the officers donned gas masks and lined up for another attempt. Once more, Lowe took the lead with his shield. "Due to Furtado's actions during our first attempt to access the basement, I determined it was necessary to enter the stairway with my handgun drawn and in the low ready position for my protection," Lowe reported. The officers' reports state that Furtado came out of the darkness again and, without a word, began advancing with the hatchet held over his head. "Furtado was given several commands to drop his weapon as I aimed my handgun towards the center of his mass," Lowe reported. "Furtado refused to do so and continued his advancement. At this point I was in fear of serious bodily harm or death by Furtado's actions and fired two rounds at Furtado, which did not stop his advancement. I then fired one additional round at Furtado, which halted his advancement and caused him to fall to the ground." Furtado was about 10 feet away at the time, reports show. The officers restrained the disturbed homeowner and called for medical help. Furtado was pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital about 30 minutes later. Police took from Furtado's body, as evidence, one pair of black sneakers, a pair of white socks, a pair of black pants, a pair of red-and-blue underwear and a set of dentures. Questions With the release of the d.a. and police reports, the family of Daniel Furtado - a native of Portugal who suffered from a bipolar disorder - knows how their grandfather, father and husband died - but not why. And Furtado's survivors are not convinced by the d.a.'s ruling that all proceeded as it should have and had to, resulting in a justifiable homicide. "I am underwhelmed by both the activity of the police and the quality of the report done by the d.a.'s office," said the Furtado family lawyer, William Hunt. "I suggest the d.a.'s [Martha Coakley] report was compromised because her husband [Cambridge Deputy Superintendent Thomas O'Connor] was at the scene." Hunt admitted he hadn't known O'Connor had any connection to the incident until he saw a report in last week's Chronicle. Even so, he said, the conflict of interest is obvious. Furtado's family is considering a wrongful death suit and has asked the U.S. District Attorney to look into the shooting as a neutral third party. "We're still reviewing all of these things, and we still have FOIA [Freedom of Information Act requests] out," Hunt said, referring to the process police and the d.a. required of him and the local press before releasing the reports to the public. "I'm looking for the SWAT training manual, I'm looking for the written procedures that govern such an incident ..... "He has a laundry list of such "looking fors." "There is no one, other than the Middlesex d.a., that doesn't think the police botched this up," Hunt added. "There's no way to get around it, they screwed up." Hunt said the fact the police officers entered the basement, retreated and then re-entered the basement gave lie to any sense of emergency. "The buzz on the street is that he would not have died if he hadn't lived in this neighborhood [the Porter Street area of East Cambridge]," Hunt said. Indeed, residents of Furtado's immigrant-heavy community have said their neighbor would have lived if he hadn't been Portuguese. Furtado had been off his medication for abou~ a month prior to his death, 2 and his behavior had become increasingly erratic. When he came to police attention this time, he had just cut his neighbor's telephone and phone lines, screaming, "Are you having a good day? I am," reports show. Police arrived at Furtado's door and he greeted them with a hatchet and threats, reports show. Furtado smashed his own kitchen window, police said, and cut off his own power attempting to electrify the fence behind his house. Neighbors approached and tried to talk Furtado out of his house. Then police decided to go in. Hunt believes that one of the reasons Furtado died is that police in Massachusetts don't receive proper training in how to deal with people with mental illness. He says the officers involved in the shooting didn't know how to approach Furtado and didn't have a clue about getting him to calm down. That ignorance, Hunt said, cost a 59-year-old grandfather his life. "In this case two and two don't equal four," Hunt said, "it equals something like three-point-four." To Furtado's family it just adds up to a lot of pain. LOCAL REGIONAL -- RELATED ARTICLES -- Midsummer's music: Arts Council sponsors llth performance series A teen screening Theaters play up new spaces Tunnel an impassable issue for residents and Harvard -- RELATED HIASYS SITES -- Find a Job in CAMBRIDGE Boston Homes: The Complete Guide BostonHerald.com Local & Regional News -- HIASYS TOOLS -- Email this Article to a Friend Printer Friendly Version Subscribe to the Cambridge Chronicle Furtado had long history of police involvement By Deborah Eisner / Chronicle Staff Tuesday, August 6, 2002 Daniel Furtado was no stranger to the Cambridge justice system, even before his death at the hands of a police officer sparked questions about the appropriate use of force. Furtado, 59, had been arrested six times in the past 12 years on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assault with a dangerous weapon. He was scheduled to return to court on the latter charge, dating from May, later this month. Instead, Furtado was shot and killed by Cambridge Police Officer Darcy Lowe during a three-hour stand-off with police on July 15. Lowe's use of force has been deemed appropriate by the state police. 3 A Portugal native who spoke very little English, Furtado had lived in America for more than 30 years, almost as long as he fought the bipolar disorder that plagued him and his family. Helena Martins of Medford, Furtado's only child, described her father as a loving, caring man when he was on his medication. But Furtado had stopped taking Depekote, the anti-mania drug that kept.him in line, weeks before the stand-off with police ended his life. Although Martins told the Chronicle that her father would never hurt her mother, she did confirm that Natalia Furtado, Daniel Furtado's wife, moved out of their Porter Street home on July 4 because she feared for her safety. The police stand-off marked the end of a month of frightening events for the Furtado family. According to police interviews with Mrs. Furtado and Martins, Daniel Furtado had repeatedly threatened to kill Natalia. He had also taken the two of them hostage, forcing them to sample his medication and holding a knife to their throats, the interview records show. Threats against his wife were not new to Daniel Furtado. Natalia Furtado took a three-year restraining order out against him in 1994. Letter: Settle any claims promptly and fairly Tuesday, August 6, 2002 The city manager should not be called on to be the city's spokesman on the Daniel Furtado killing in light of his primary obligation to manage the city's finances. In this case, the mayor and council ought to accept the responsibility of investigating the matter, hopefully assuring the citizens that there was no non-lethal way for the police to subdue Mr. Furtado and that the police are taking steps to make sure that such a tragedy will not recur. As to any claim for money damages that may be made by the Furtados, the city itself should be immune from any liability under Supreme Court rulings but the individual policemen, including the district attorney's husband, will be exposed to damage actions. The city owes it to the Furtado family, policemen involved and to the community at large to promptly and fairly settle any claims arising out of this incident rather than allow them to drag on for years in the courts. RICHARD D. CLAREY Letter: Shame on the police Tuesday, August 6, 2002 The shocking death of Daniel Furtado shows a lack of understanding and compassion by the Cambridge Police for the mentally ill. Mr. Furtado, who suffered from bipolar disorder and who was off his medication at the time police surrounded his house, was known to health care providers and his family as dangerous to HIMSELF, not others. The charging of his house by the SWAT team, his brutal shooting and subsequent death, teach the rest of us one clear lesson: we live in a class society. Mr. Furtado was fatally shot because he was an immigrant blue-collar worker from East Cambridge who sometimes annoyed his neighbors. Should he have 4 lived for generations in the "other Cambridge" in a big house on Brattle Street, we would find he was gently coerced from his home after days of negotiations, the SWAT team wasn't called, and his wife and family were consulted before the police made any big moves. The pain of the family in "the other Cambridge" would have been so important that we might have seen a national figure the likes of Katie Couric interviewing the family in their distress. Instead, in working-class East Cambridge we have a broken and devastated Furtado family still asking law enforcement for answers as to how and why Mr. Furtado was fatally shot. Congratulations to his daughter, Helena Martins, for having the courage to go after the city of Cambridge - and shame on the Cambridge Police! DONNA GIROMINI Open Job Opportunity (Open to the Public and City Employees) Page 1 of 1 City of Cincinnati Unclassified Appointment Open lo the Public m~d to City I!mployees EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - CITIZEN COMPLAINT AUTHORITY Salary: $86,952 - $117,385 annually RESUME DEADLINE: 4:30 p.m., Friday, August 23, 2002 The City of Cincinnati is seeking to fill the Executive Director position for the newly formed Citizen Complaint Authority. This individual will plan, manage and review the activities and operations of the Citizen Complaint Authority (CCA) for the City of Cincinnati; this individual will supervise and consult on all investigations of citizen complaints alleging excessive force, the improper pointing of firearms at persons, unreasonable searches and seizures, and discrimination filed against employees of the Cincinnati Police Department; and the investigation of shots fired or death in custody cases involving employees of the Cincinnati Police Department. This individual will present findings and recommend corrective actions. This individual will ensure CCA compliance with the Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Cincinnati and the United States Justice Department and the U. S. District Court Collaborative Agreement. RESUMES must be filed in Suite 200, Two Centennial Plaza, 805 Central Avenue, by the deadline date for applications. You may file in person or return the application through the United States mail with a postmark no later than the deadline date for applications. You may NOT use the interdepartmental mail system. QUALIFICATIONS: Each applicant must have paid investigative experience in the investigation of allegations of police misconduct; with at least two years of administrative and supervisory experience. Preferred Qualifications: Each applicant should have a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in criminal justice, or a related field, a Master's degree in criminal justice or a related field and or a Juris Doctorate is also preferred. Must have possession of, or ability to obtain, a valid Ohio driver's license. City of Cincinnati residency is required at time of appointment. "Applications for City positions are considered public records under Ohio's Public Records Act. As a public record, applications maintained by the City shall be made available to any person requesting to view them CONTACT PERSON: Carole Callahan, 352-2428 TDD: 352-2419 City of Cincinnati, Human Resources Department Two Centennial Plaza, Suite 200, 805 Central Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45202 Announcement Number: 87 Date Issued: July 29, 2002 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Reasonable Accommodation for the Qualified People with disabilities. Please self-identi .fy at the time of application and at employment interviews. file://C:\TEMP\exdir_citizencompl auth 02 87.htm 8/9/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 09, 2002 9:07 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] 2 Border Patrol Agents Charged in Alleged http://v~ww~atimes~c~m/neWs/!~ca~/~a-me-indict8aug~8-st~ry?c~=~a%2Dhead~ines%2Dca~if~rnia 2 Agents Charged in Alleged Beating Courts: Border Patrol pair enter not-guilty pleas to assaulting an undocumented immigrant in a Chula Vista holding cell. By DANIEL YI LA TIMES STAFF WRITER August $ 2002 Two Border Patrol agents faced charges Wednesday for allegedly beating an undocumented immigrant inside a holding cell in San Diego County--the first such criminal case in Southern California in approximately three years, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Robert V. Curtin, 26, and John R. Wallace, 38, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in San Diego to charges that they assaulted Erik Mendoza-Rubio of Mexico affer he was arrested last summer. A federal grand jury indicted the two agents Friday on charges of violating Mendoza's civil rights and abusing their official powers. If convicted, they could receive a maximum of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. They remain free on $25,000 bond. Mendoza, 21, will be allowed to remain in the United States until the resolution of the case, U.S. officials said. He could not be roached for comment. Curtin's and Wallace's attorneys strongly denied the charges Wednesday but said that neither they nor their clients would comment in detail. Ben Bauman, a spokesman for the patrol's San Diego sector, said the men, who joined the fome about six years ago, were put on paid administrative leave Wednesday. They had been transferred to office duties last summer when the investigation began, Bauman said. "They are innocent until proven guilty," he said. "These agents will have an opportunity to address the accusations in court. U.S. Border Patrol agents are held to the highest professional and moral standards ... and allegations against two individuals should not be allowed to tarnish the reputation of nearly 10,000 dedicated agents nationwide." The Border Patrol's San Diego sector employs 1,700 agents and is responsible for guarding 66 miles of the border with Mexico. The region has historically been a hotbed of migrant smuggling. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tenorio, who is prosecuting the case, said Mendoza was arrested by San Diego police last Aug. 30 in Chula Vista. Mendoza was a passenger in a car that allegedly held two smuggled migrants in the trunk, Tenorio said. Because he was suspected of being an illegal immigrant and possibly a smuggler, he was turned over to the U.S Border Patrol. Mendoza was transferred to a holding cell in the agency's Chula Vista station. He was never charged with smuggling. In the holding cell, the indictment alleges, Curtin and Wallace assaulted Mendoza causing "bodily injury." Tenorio said he could not discuss the extent of the injuries, but they were severe enough to require medical treatment. "We get quite a few allegations" of abuse by Border Patrol agents, Tenorio said, but "it is pretty hard to corroborate them. In this one, we had reliable corroborating evidence." Tenorio said he would not elaborate on the evidence until the trial, which is yet to be scheduled. 8/9/02 Page 2 of 2 He said the last time a Border Patrol agent in the California-Mexico border was criminally charged was neady three years ago. There have been prosecutions in other parts of the country. Two years ago, a Border Patrol agent in Hidalgo County, Texas, was indicted on charges that he beat a suspected illegal border crosser in the head with a flashlight. Tenorio said many cases are handled administratively. Earlier this year, another San Diego Border Patrol agent who had been accused of abuse agreed to resign to avoid prosecution, Tenorio said. Claudia Smith, border project director with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, a migrants advocacy and watchdog group, said that reports of violence by Border Patrol agents have dropped significantly, but that rough treatment persists. Migrants tell her they are safe as long as they don't run from the agents, Smith said. But "whether they run or not, or mouth off or not, it is no justification for excessive use of force." 8/9/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 09, 2002 9:07 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA: Perez' Partner to Serve 5 Years http://www,!at!mes, com/news/Ioca!/!a-me-durden8aug08 story?co!!=!a%2 Dhead!ines%~ Dca!!fomia Perez's Partner to Serve 5 Years LAPD: Former officer strikes plea bargain for concurrent state and federal sentences for litany of Rampart crimes. By ANNA GORMAN TIMES STAFF WRITER August 8 2002 Nino Durden, the partner of former LAPD officer Rafael Perez, was sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court to a five-year prison term for crimes connected to the Rampart corruption scandal. Durden, 34, pleaded guilty in state court in March 2001 to conspiring to obstruct justice, perjury under oath, grand theft and filing a false police report. He has also pleaded guilty to civil rights violations in federal court and is scheduled to surrender to federal authorities Sept. 12. Under the terms of a plea agreement, he will serve the five-year state prison sentence at the same time as a three-year federal sentence, authorities said, and he is expected to be free from federal prison by 2005. Because of credits for good behavior, state inmates typically serve less than their prescribed sentences. Durden, who provided investigators with details on numerous crimes that he and Perez committed, including the cover-up of a shooting of an unarmed man, stood with his head bowed as Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley imposed the sentence. Wesley ordered Durden to surrender Sept. 12, saying that if he failed to do so, "There will be consequences to pay." The sentencing is "another step in the unfolding of the saga" of Rampart, head Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Hodgman said outside court. "1 think we are considerably along the way there, but there is still some more to be done and there is still some investigation to be done." The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has prosecuted nine officers in connection with misconduct in LAPD's Rampart Division. Seven officers, including Durden and Perez, have been convicted. Three of the jury convictions were overturned and are on appeal. One officer was acquitted and one still awaits trial. During extensive debriefings with prosecutors and federal agents, Durden admitted that he and Perez shot an unarmed man, Javier Francisco Ovando in 1996, planted a gun on him and lied in court to help send him to prison on a 23-year sentence. Ovando, who was paralyzed below the waist, has since been released from prison and has received a $15- million settlement from the city of Los Angeles. Durden also admitted guilt in three other incidents in which he said innocent people were either arrested or victimized. Durden said he and Perez framed one man on a weapons charge, stole $1,300 from another and stole property from a third, authorities said. Durden's statements to authorities served as a catalyst in prosecuting Perez, who was sentenced in federal court in May to two years in prison for violating Ovando's civil rights. He also served three years in state prison for stealing cocaine from LAPD evidence lockers before being released last year. Perez was granted immunity from state prosecution for framing Qvando. 8/9/02 Page 2 of 2 Though authorities originally believed that Durden would implicate other officers, he provided details only about crimes that he and his partner committed. Perez, on the other hand, reportedly implicated about 70 Rampart officers in what he said was a pattern of misconduct that involved illegal beatings, shootings and false arrests. Durden's attorney, Bill Seki, said outside court that Perez's version is exaggerated. Seki added that his client knows what he did was wrong, but he should not have received a longer prison sentence than Perez. "He's extremely disappointed and probably somewhat angry that he has been made out to be the one to be the bad guy," Seki said. Hodgman said that Perez was the top figure in the Rampart misconduct, but that Durden also committed several crimes. "Durden admitted his culpability in quite a range of misconduct, so as far as I'm concerned, I think the sentence he received today was very fair, even in light of his cooperation," he said. Hodgman said the debriefings of Durden helped provide prosecutors with an understanding of what happened at Rampart, though he said authorities will never completely know the extent of misconduct in the division. "1 think we had a situation that was more along the lines of a communist cell-type model as opposed to a vast conspiracy," he said, adding that Perez gave officials "some truths, some lies, some exaggeration and some speculation." 8/9/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Kelvyn. Anderson@phila.gov Friday, August 09, 2002 10:29 AM update@naco[e.org [NACOLE Update] Philadelphia Officer charged Posted on Fri, Aug. 09, 2002 Officer charged in sexual abuse Lenwood Burke is accused of assaulting the daughter of friends over eight years. He will be fired, police said. By Nora Achrati Inquirer Staff Writer A Philadelphia police officer accused of sexually abusing his friends' daughter was arrested yesterday on charges of rape, assault and other offenses, authorities said. Patrol Officer Lenwood Burke, 41, of the 1700 block of Monument Avenue, turned himself in to the Philadelphia Police Internal Affairs Bureau yesterday morning. He was awaiting arraignment on 12 felony and misdemeanor charges for assaults that allegedly occurred over an eight-year period. Burke's victim, now 18, was about 10 when the alleged assaults began, Internal Affairs Chief Robert Eichler said. Police did not say how long Burke had known the victim's family. The girl, bound for college this fall, reported the attacks to a counselor with Philadelphia's Department of Human Services in October, Eichler said. He did not know how long or in what capacity the gi~l had been in touch with the department. Burke has been with the Philadelphia Police Department for five years. After the accusations surfaced, Burke was reassigned to a desk job from his patrol beat in the 35th District and kept under "close watch," Eichler said. He also was barred from carrying a gun. Police have been investigating the girl's reports for about 10 months. "We wanted to be sure we had all the information and facts necessary to go to trial," Eichler said. "This is not an unusual length of time for a case of this complexity." Burke was suspended from his job after his arrest and will be fired, Eichler said. If convicted of all charges, the officer could face more than 100 years in prison. "These types of incidents, unfortunately, can happen in any large organization," Eichler said. "He just happens to be a police officer, and it's a shame. I wish he was not." Contact Nora Achrati at 215-854-2796 or nachrati@phillynews.com. Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Malvina Monteiro [mmonteire@ci.cambridge.ma.us] Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 11:44 AM To: Sue Quinn Subject: FW: Citizens Review Board Can we circulate his request to the national group'?, Thanks. ..... Original Message ..... From: R. Allen McCartney [mailto:cartney@bellsouth.net] Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 10:05 AM To: mmonteiro@ci.cambridge.ma.us Subject: Citizens Review Board I have recently filed a Complaint in the Unites States District Court of rht e Western District of Kentucky, at Owensboro for an assault upon my client which took place on December 2, 2001. Four of the Police Officers have been suspended from the Police Department. Part of the Complaint's remiries requests the implementation of a Police Citizens Review Board. I am attempting to locate an expert witness concerning the operations of a Citizens review Board, and the effects that such a board has upon police assaults upon person's arrested. If a member of your organization believes that their assistance may be helpful, and would be willing to be listed as an expert witnesss, please have that person contact me, and I will provide more information and a copy of the Complaint. R. Allen McCartney 8700 Westport Road Suite 209 Louisville, Kentucky 40242-3100 502-326-3510 502-326-3509 FAY, 8/12/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Kelvyn.Anderson@phila.gov Monday, August 12, 2002 12:17 PM update@nacoJe.org [NACOLE Update] Federal Judge nixes lawyer suit over stop by State Cop Lawyer's Civil Rights Suit Alleging Police Harassment Thrown Out By Shannon P. Duffy The Legal Intelllgencer A federal judge has dismissed a civil rights suit brought by a lawyer who claims he was harassed by an off-duty Pennsylvania state trooper who followed him home after an incident on a Bucks County highway and then hit him with a slew of trumped-up traffic citations that were later tossed out of court Senior U.S. District Judge Robert F. Kelly found that attorney Samuel Litzenberger's suit was fatally flawed since no jury could ever find that the trooper lacked probable cause to stop him. In his ll-page opinion in Litzenberger v. Vanim, Kelly found that the evidence of Litzenberger's own conduct -- including passing cars in a zone with a double-yellow stripe -- was strong enough to show that the trooper had a valid reason for the stop. Kelly also found that it was legally insignificant in a federal civil rights claim that the trooper had violated state law by making the stop while he was off duty and not wearing a uniform. "It is of no import that [Trooper Kirk R.] Vanim violated state law by being out of uniform when he confronted Litzenberger. The fact that Vanim's actions may have violated state law does not mean that his actions violated Section 1983 or the Fourth A/nendment," Kelly wrote. In the suit, Litzenberger claimed that on Oct. 29, 1999, while driving on Route 212 in Richland Township, he attempted to pass a slow-moving pickup truck driven by Vanim. When Litzenberger attempted to pass, he claims, Vanim increased his speed and drove to the left of the center of the highway to hinder Litzenberger's passage. Litzenberger was eventually able to pass Vanim but claims the trooper began following closely. After Litzenberger had passed several other cars, he says, he lost sight of Vanim's truck and proceeded home. But just seconds after he pulled in to his driveway and parked, Litzenberger claims, Vanim pulled up to the entrance of the driveway, blocking Litzenberger from leaving. The suit says Vanim exited the truck and approached Litzenberger while Litzenberger yelled at Vanim to move his truck. He says Vanim then flashed his state trooper badge and asked to see Litzenberger's driver's license, insurance card and registration card. Litzenberger says he responded by asking: "What right do you have to ask for that when you're out of uniform and stopping me?" He claims Vanim replied: "I didn't stop you. I just pulled over to talk to To that, Litzenberger says he responded: "That's a bunch of baloney. Your truck is across the driveway, and I want to get out and you're blocking me." The suit says Vanim replied: "I'11 be moving it when I'm through talking to you or doing what I want to do here." Litzenberger claims that he repeated his question about whether Vanim had a right to stop him when he was off duty and that Vanim responded by asking Litzenberger why he had jeopardized Vanim and his passenger. Litzenberger claims he told Vanim that he thought that was a ridiculous question to ask after Vanim had tried to run him off the road and had tailgated him. Ultimately, Litzenberger claims, Vanim left but said in parting that he had enough information from Litzenberger's license plate to pursue the matter back at the police station. The next day, Vanim called the other drivers that Litzenberger had passed to see what they recalled of the encounter, according to court papers. After gathering the accounts of the witnesses, Vanim prepared 10 traffic citations, including improper passing, following too closely, reckless and careless driving, and failure to display a driver's license. Litzenberger contested the citations at a hearing in February 2000 and argued that Vanim had no authority to pursue him and issue the citations because he was off duty and out of uniform at the time. Vanim and another witness, Brandon Hayslip, testified about Litzenberger's driving. Hayslip said Litzenberger had tailgated him and that Litzenberger eventually passed him on an area of the highway where visibility was obscured because of a curve in the road. The district justice dismissed all of the citations, but only after giving Litzenberger a lecture. "Your actions and careless disregard for others in the testimony that was presented to this court is appalling for someone of your state and stature. This court believes that you should be punished for your actions, but I can't rightfully deny your rights or anybody else's rights in this courtroom," the district justice said. "It is clear in the statute and in case law that the trooper [Vanim] acted beyond his statutorial authority and that has to be enforced because he was required to be in uniform and he was not. Based on counsel's argument and those facts, the court is dismissing all the charges," the district justice said. Vanim later contacted the Bucks County District Attorney's Office and requested that it file an appeal of the district justice's determination. The DA's office filed papers with the prothonotary, asking that the charges be reinstated, but the request was denied, according to court papers. Aoting as his own lawyer, Litzenberger filed a federal civil rights suit in December 2001, alleging violation of his Fourth Amendment rights as well as state law claims of malicious prosecution, false arrest, abuse of process and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Deputy Attorney General Randall J. Henzes moved to dismiss all the claims on summary judgment. Litzenberger argued that Vanim violated his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizure when he followed him home, blocked his driveway, refused to immediately move his truck, and subsequently issued him 10 traffic citations. Kelly found that the temporary detention of individuals during an automobile stop by the police, even if only for a brief period, constitutes a "seizure" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. But Kelly also found that "the decision to stop an automobile is reasonable where the police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation has occurred." In Litzenberger~s case, Kelly said, "no reasonable jury could conclude that Vanim did not have probable cause." Kelly cited Vanim's testimony that he witnessed Litzenberger pass him and the other vehicles where the highway had two solid yellow lines and that he witnessed Litzenberger traveling at an unsafe distance behind the other vehicles. "A police officer who personally observes a traffic violation has probable cause to stop the vehicle and offending driver," Kelly wrote. And Vanim's testimony was bolstered by two other witnesses, including Juanita Jean Laga, who testified at her deposition that Litzenberger's car "flew by us" and that Litzenberger passed her vehicle at such a high rate of speed that "a young boy on the lefthand side of the road fell off his bicycle." Laga testified that she and her father-in-law sped up to follow Litzenberger to get his licence plate number to give to the police. Kelly noted that Litzenberger did not deny that he passed the other vehicles. 3 "In light of the evidence provided in this case, no reasonable jury could find that Vanim lacked probable cause to stop Litzenberger, and thus, the seizure was reasonable and constitutional," Kelly wrote. Date Received: August 09, 2002 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: Monday, August 12, 2002 12:40 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] House Judiciary Comm Holds LA-area Forum on Police Misconduct 8 19 02 A congressional forum on police misconduct will be held August 19, beginning at 10 AM. Site: Inglewood High School, 231 S. Grevillea Ave, Inglewood, Ca. Representatives from House Judiciary Committee, Congressional Black Caucus; Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus are expect. The forum will include 3 panels who will address police misconduct; 1. Elected officials & representatives of law enforcement panel 2. Panel of victims and persons who work with victims of police misconduct; 3. Proposed solutions panel. If you are in the Southern California area Monday 8-19-02, please consider attending and bringing members of your review Boards and Commissions. 8/12/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Monday, August 12, 2002 3:54 PM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] Village Voice Article pic15574jpg pic04031 .jpg Village Voice NYC A Police Shooting Reveals Scared Tenants and Scary Cops Another "Justified" Homicide? by Jess Wisloski & Martine Guerrier August 7 - 13, 2002 (Embedded image moved to file: pic15574.jpg) A protest outside the office of Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes on July 15, including Louisgene's uncle Etang Vielot and mother, Marie Louisgene (together at left) and brother Junior (with arm raised) (photo: Cary Conover) "They didn't look at him as a human being," Abellard Louis-Jeune shouted through an amped-up microphone, speaking about her brother, 23-year-old police shooting victim Georgy Louisgene. (Abellard uses the pre-migration spelling of the family name.) On a hot summer morning outside the Jay Street office of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes on the six-month anniversary of her brother's death, she called to black cops in uniform, "When you take it off, they'll kill YOU." Hermmed in by police barricades, other members of the family, all wearing black T-shirts bearing the picture of a smiling dreadlocked young man, and the name "Georgy Louisgene Justice Committee." Plastered on signs at the protest were the faces of many other smiling young men: black, Asian, Latin, and their ages?16,21,23?when they too were killed by police officers. The protesters angrily addressed Hynes, challenging him time and again to offer them a convincing explanation for Louisgene's death, or a trial of the officers involved. On closing the investigation one month ago, Hynes provided neither. In the next week, the Louisgene family is filing a multimillion-dollar law suit against the city over the loss of Georgy's life, according to family attorney, Duane Felton. Abellard, who is 26, leads the family's cause and serves as plaintiff in documents obtained by the Voice. She charges that officers committed an "unlawful shooting without probable cause," and conspired to violate Georgy's civil rights "under the color of law." Steve Yip, of the October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, counted at least 46 police killings that occurred within Hynes's jurisdiction in the 1990s that went untried. Additionally, he says, of the four in the past year that he is personally aware of, only one received a jury trial?the incident involving drunken off-duty police officer Joseph Gray running down the four-member Herrara-Pena family. Hynes's investigation, lasting more than five months, into the January 16 shooting of Louisgene, a Flatbush resident, came to a close on June 28 when his office announced, "There is no credible basis upon which the involved officers could be found to be criminally liable " Louisgene, who had no police record, history of violence, or mental illness, was Haitian, and only two days away from his naturalization exams. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated even before the body was identified that the killing was justified, and apparently months of further investigation dug up nothing more. But there is a lot that might have been found. On January 16 Louisgene lay dead on the cement walkway of 3501 Foster Avenue in East Flatbush. While blood puddled in the cracks of the sidewalk, leaking from the five bullet wounds that killed him, the two officers who had fired?Joe Thompson, 25, an officer for four years, and Sergeant James Muirhead, 30, a seven-year veteran?waited for backup from the 67th Precinct. It arrived in droves. A fleet of police cruisers lined the street with officers, witnesses, and reporters swarming the Vanderveer Estates projects. Over 35 minutes later an ambulance arrived, covered the body, and left. The time of death was 2:39 p.m, but it was early evening before the body was removed. (Embedded image moved to file: pic04031.jpg) In the days following the shooting, newspaper stories tried to account for why Louisgene was shot, though his body had yet to be identified. He was cast as a deranged man, who had been acting crazily, wandering the projects with a knife and a stick, an hour and a half after taking flight mid-shift from his stockboy job at a CVS on Kings Highway, over a mile away. He turned up at Vanderveer and, according to the newspapers, assaulted people: He was allegedly "groping" and had "fondled" people, "menaced" a young girl, and tried to kiss several men, women, and children. Sometime during these scattered events, he was also evidently battered by a gang of young men. The papers reported no firsthand accounts of people he had assaulted, only unnamed "witnesses" and police sources. The Daily News reported that two of the men Louisgene tried to kiss chased him down and beat him. He then burst into s woman's apartment, where he "menaced her 10-year-old daughter," said the Daily News, and then tore off, swiping a kitchen knife and wooden stick with a small hook on the top of it. When he ran out to the courtyard, police were waiting for him, reportedly in response to a 911 call. Stories said Louisgene then headed toward the cops brandishing the weapons, and they fired eight times, five of which hit him. Louisgene was shot in the torso, lower back, buttocks, left arm, and left side. And today this sketchy story still has gaping holes. Prior to leaving his job on January 16, apparently in a panic, he told his co-workers to call 911, fearing that he was in some danger. It is unclear why he was later at Vanderveer?none of his close friends or family of seven, who live in a house several miles away to which he still returned every night, know of any connections there. The woman into whose apartment Louisgene allegedly "burst" or "forced himself" (as the dailies wrote) says that she actually let him in. 2 Immediately following the shooting, many Vanderveer residents and witnesses told the papers and the police that the cops had been wrong to fire at him, but only a week later very few of them were even willing to admit they had seen anything. The Voice found that a number of Vanderveer residents who were witnesses have since relocated, and most of those still living there were too fearful?especially of officers of the 67th Precinct?to allow the use of their names. The Vanderveer community views this fatality as another case of a police shooting targeted at them, another case of white cops perceiving a threat from dark-colored skin or labeling a person as criminal, citing the earlier cases of Abner Louima and Patrick Dorismond. Witnesses who brazenly gave their accounts to the police, the Daily News, and Newsday have now retracted their statements, said one police spokesperson. But one is sticking it out. "He came to my door begging for help," explained Janet McQuillar, a former Vanderveer resident, whose third-floor apartment Louisgene entered. She recalled that her regular soap, One Life to Live, which airs at 2 p..m., was just starting when he came to her door. Initially thinking from his size and locks that he was one of her son Darnell's friends, she let him in. Scared at first when he flailed into her apartment, battered and bloodied from his attackers, she grabbed an 18-inch wooden stick with a little hook on it?she described it as a grappling hook. Soon she realized he was "in search of refuge," and she offered to call the police. McQuillar said the fact that her nephew had been beaten and murdered in an Albany housing project may be why she had sympathy for Louisgene. When she asked him if he wanted her to call 911, she said, he emphatically agreed and begged her to do so. "When my son walked into the room with the phone, [Louisgene] ran to him, because he was scared, you know, because the boys outside had just attacked him," McQuillar said. Louisgene, likely mistaking Darnell for one of the attackers, held Darnell down, and Janet began to beat him on the back with the lightweight wooden stick. McQuillar said he didn't even seem to feel it, and was eyeing the front door, terrified of attackers coming in after him. So she opened it. "Soon as I opened it, he started crying and saying, 'Shut the door! Shut the door!' she wailed, imitating him. An instant later he grabbed the stick, and a 12-inch serrated kitchen knife that was lying nearby. "Mind you, he did not take the weapons to hurt anybody. He took [them] to protect himself, because he was scared to go out there." Then, she recalled, he ran down the stairs, saying, as if he "was a tough guy now: 'Me not no botty man.' " (Botty man is a slang term for gay.) McQuillar said she could barely understand him because his jaw appeared to be broken. She said the attackers were outside waiting for him, adding that she knew the men as "those boys" who hang out above the parking garage below the Foster Avenue courtyard. So far, McQuillar said, she's spoken with a lot of reporters, mostly from Haitian papers, and has received few police inquiries. Sam Rodriguez (not his real name) was a downstairs neighbor of hers at the time and saw the incident through his window, including the gang beating Louisgene and his shooting by police. "They just hit him, never seen Louisgene and hit him, and hit him," said Rodriguez, who had before, though he recognized the attackers. Anita, 3 his wife door and apartment. (not her real name), said their dog barked and she opened the saw Louisgene face-to-face as he headed down from McQuillar's "He was coming down the stairs?he just stared at me, scared, and went outside." She said he was obviously in a daze from the beating, and he was bleeding at the mouth, head, and ears. He was not a threat to anyone, she insisted, certainly not as much as guns being fired in a courtyard with children all around. Once Louisgene was outside, said Sam, the police fired from 10 to 12 feet away, after telling Louisgene to drop his weapons. "He was reaching up with the stick, to gesture to the men behind them," he said, explaining that Louisgene's attackers were standing behind the police, who were in the wide entrance to the courtyard. Early reports and police sources claimed the cops were "backed up against the gate." "He was begging them to help, said something like, 'Those are the guys behind you! Arrest those guys!' to the officers," he said. The cries from the yard came as soon as his body hit the ground. "Why did you do that! You didn't have to shoot him!" onlookers shouted at the cops, said Jermal Alexander, who reluctantly admitted he was one of those objecting. According to Alexander, Louisgene was warned to drop his weapons, but was busy motioning at his attackers while he was walking toward them. He obviously thought they had come to help him, and, crying, he approached them. When the first shot hit him, he kept motioning wildly, and moved closer again. When the last bullets hit, he was down for good, and the outburst came from witnesses. "The cops were telling us to be quiet and said that we were 'obstructing the justice,' "said Alexander, who is 26. He was standing with his nephew and several other neighbors, and was later interviewed by the Daily News along with a Robert Rivera, who has since become unreachable. He said that about 10 witnesses were immediately brought down to the 67th Precinct and questioned. The day after the shooting, Sam Rodriguez and McQuillar went down to the station on their own to tell police what they had seen. "They didn't want to hear it. They didn't even want to write down what we had to say." Now the Rodriguezes have moved and want no connection to the case. "The shooting was good. The shooting was justified. Muirhead did nothing wrong," said an officer, unguarded, except for withholding his name, in an interview at the 67th Precinct stationhouse. Twenty-nine hours after the shooting, at 7:30 p.m. on January 17, the family was brought to the stationhouse, and the body was finally officially identified. "We don't know you, but we really regret what happened," read a letter Abellard found on her first visit to the shooting site. The entire family went there after several hours at the precinct, during which no one ever explained exactly what "the Vanderveer" was?they had no clue. Finally at around 9:30 p.m., they were given the address and drove out to see where Georgy had spent his last moments. That crude epitaph, along with arranged, lighted candles, flowers, and notes, had been left at the spot where his blood still stained the ground?about 12 feet from the always ajar entrance gate where the officers had stood when they fired. She remembered people approaching them that evening. "Everybody was just coming out; they wanted to tell us about it," she says. She wasn't ready 4 to hear it. The evening of Wednesday, January 22, one week following the shooting, the family and a few friends staged a candlelight vigil at Vanderveer. They went seeking answers that never surfaced. "Nobody would come out. People would walk by, even just run, like they were afraid of us. And when we went into the buildings and put flyers under the doors, some of them would push it right out?right there and then?like they didn't want to be involved," said Abellard. Now the Louisgene family, who share a Nostrand Avenue apartment, are moving out of Brooklyn. "I need to be somewhere I don't see him every day on the street," explained Abellard, who said she still expects to bump into him. The man they remember was a man who sang out loud, with his Walkman on the train and at work. "And he was a LOUD singer," laughed Abellard. The radio was always on. Reggae and hip-hop were his passions. He performed in clubs, opening up for big-name artists like Sizzla and Capleton, often rhyming about police brutality and fundamental human rights. Suzette Palmer, a close friend, said his dreadlocks and vegetarianism were spurred by his interest in the Rastafarian lifestyle. She described him as the "most humble of all of us," though always dressed in a tailored shirt and slacks. She recalled that one week before the shooting, someone suggested he start carrying a weapon. Palmer says Georgy's response was "No, I don't carry weapons. It's not me." She says it is inconceivable that he would act deranged or grope children. "He would have done it before," she said, implying that she'd have known. He babysat and was a "father figure" to her children, ages two, five, and eight. They adored him, she said. "He'd take my little son out to play basketball, help them do their homework, press their school uniforms, and pick them up from school." "He tried to live peacefully and quietly and righteous. God, he was always talking about righteousness and how to live righteously," said Abellard with exasperation, while her sister, Cindy, and younger brother Junior chuckled quietly. Abellard formed the family committee because, aside from the Coalition for Haitian Justice, there are only a handful of community activist groups they could go to for help. The National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR), which is the largest of these, held a town meeting with the police commissioner's office?catalyzed by the Louisgene incident?on police relations with Haitians. The family attended and viewed it as a session chastising Haitians for hating the police, and trying to "sensitize" them toward understanding police actions. "We asked Commissioner Kelly why they waited for something like this to happen, again after Dorismond, again after Louima, to come in our community and tell us we need to trust the police," said Abellard, "and, [we asked] 'What are you doing about the Georgy Louisgene case?' "He just left," she said. "He said he didn't have time for this and left To date, with Abner Louima's search for justice continuing in the courts, and Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes's history of not indicting cops involved in misconduct, especially against Haitians, the outlook for Abellard and her family is an uphill battle to say the least. But Suzette Palmer hopes for the best: "They just want justice. Ail they want is justice. This is America. You gotta have justice for all." eSafe scanned this email for malicious content IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders 6 Page 1 of 1 file://C:\TEMP\pic 15574.jpg 8/13/02 Page 1 of 1 file://C:\TEMP\pic04031 .jpg 8/13/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Wednesday, August 14, 2002 11:29 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] ACLU request To: aclu-legal@lists.aclu.org Subject: [aclu-legal] police practices for identifying immigrants We are dealing with a situation here in Wisconsin, where a small town police force appears to be targeting Latinos for immigration enforcement during traffic stops. We sent out some letters to them, which got some favorable (from our perspective - not theirs) publicity, and now they want to talk. We are aware of the policies and letters limiting local police authority to enforce immigration law and have been raising that But for a number of reasons (including the profiling of Latinos which has been occurring), we also want to try to draft a policy which would preclude them from asking for immigration documents at all. The specific question that came up, was, "Well if we stop these Latinos and have questions about the validity of their ID cards/drivers licenses, how are we supposed to identify them unless we ask them for immigration documents?" Not knowing how the police verify identity of folks who aren't immigrants and don't have good ID cards, I didn't have an answer (though someone has suggested maybe they could do ID's through collateral contacts, rather than immigration documents) We are looking for someone in a location where the department either has a written policy on this issue (not asking for immigration documents, and finding other ways of determining identity) or someone who is expert enough with community policing/immigration issues to help us come up with an answer... thanks. Karyn Rotker Karyn Rotker Staff Attorney Poverty, Race & Civil Liberties Project ACLU-WIF 207 E Buffalo, Ste 325 Milwaukee WI 53202 (414) 272-4032 ext. 21 KRotker@aclu-wi.org Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Marian Kart Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 11:51 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Houston Chron: :Tests Inconclusive in Fatal Shooting By Constable Aug, 9, 2002, 12:50PM Test inconclusive in fatal shooting by constable Victim's mother wants authorities to check constable, examine truck By CINDY HORSWELL Houston Chronicle COLDSPRING -- A gunpowder residue test has done little to help answer the question of who fired the shot that killed Dennis Ray Hollis after he struggled with a San Jacinto County constable. But Hollis' mother is questioning why the test was conducted only on her son, and not on the constable, and why the Texas Rangers didn't conduct a blood-spatter test that she believes could have helped provide answers. "1 just don't want there to be a cover-up," said Debbie Hilton, 47. Authorities say they are conducting an even-handed investigation and that they, like Hilton, just want the truth. Hollis, a 23- year-old oil field worker, was shot in the head about 1 a.m. on April 21 after struggling with Precinct 4 Constable Louie E. "Lou" Rogers. But while investigators know the constable's semiautomatic pistol fired the .40-caliber bullet that killed Hollis, they remain uncertain about who pulled the trigger. Rogers says Hollis grabbed the gun and shot himself, but some witnesses say Rogers fired it. A county grand jury has met four times to review evidence and is set to meet again on Aug. 16. Grand jurors recently received the results of the gunpowder residue test, but the information doesn't help much, said District Attorney Scott Rosekrans. Hilton said she can't understand why the constable's hands weren't tested. In fact, she said her son's hands would not have been protected by plastic bags and checked if she had not "thrown a fit" at the hospital. "After he was rushed to the hospital, I was so upset," she said. "1 kept saying that my son was murdered, but the hospital workers told me that the constable had called it a suicide. "One of the doctors finally listened to me and bagged my son's hands for testing after we had been there a few minutes." Texas Ranger Kenneth Hammack, who was called to the scene that night, said a gunpowder residue test on the constable would serve little purpose, since he was so near Hollis when the pistol fired. Experts in the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab say the residue can spray from the end of the barrel as well as the sides of the gun. They also note that sometimes a gun can fire so cleanly that no residue is even detected, and that a person can get residue on his hands simply by rubbing a gun. On the night of the shooting, Rogers was attempting to arrest Hollis on a warrant to revoke his probation on a misdemeanor theft conviction for writing two bad checks. But witnesses say Hollis bolted for a friend's truck and wrestled over a .30-caliber rifle with a security officer. Eventually, Rogers and other officers had Hollis under control and kneeling beside the open passenger door of the truck. Hollis' arms were pinned down and his head pushed against the carpeted floor as Rogers held his gun against his head, said Matthew Paradeaux, 16. When the gun fired, Paradeaux said, he saw the constable's hand recoil and Hollis go limp. He said he then saw dirt fly up as a second shot was fired, striking Hollis' left ankle. However, Jeff Benson, a game warden working as a security officer, said Rogers had yelled shortly before the first shot that Hollis had grabbed his gun. Benson said he was standing behind the constable and unable to see who was holding the gun. Blood-spatter test results should be ready for presentation to the grand jury next week, said Rosekrans, the district attorney. He said clothing is being examined for spatters and stains. But Hilton wonders why the interior of the pickup was not tested, as well. Hammack said no blood was noticeable in the truck except for a small pool on the floor where Hollis' head had rested. Rosekrans, however, said he wishes the truck had been more closely examined. "The more evidence, the better," he said. "You can sometimes win or lose a case based on trace evidence." High-velocity spatter from a gunshot wound can be so hard to detect that only such things as the chemical luminol, which 8/19/02 Page 2 of 2 makes blood glow in the dark, can reveal it, lab experts said. Each time the grand jury has considered the case, Hilton and other family members have waited in the hallway wearing T-shirts with her son's photograph on the front. On the back is a photo of his casket and pallbearers, with the question,"Who's next?" Rogers, 58, elected to the constable's job six years ago, also has waited outside the jury room, with his wife. He has declined to comment except to say that Hollis killed himself. The blood-spatter results and videotaped interviews of 20 witnesses at the scene are the final evidence the grand jury is expected to review, Rosekrans said. "After that," he said, "hopefully, they can begin their deliberations and bring this to a conclusion." 8/19/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 11:51 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Justice Goes Into Hiding Justice Goes Into Hiding By BOB HERBERT NYTimes 8-12-02 [] op law enforcement officials in Texas and at the Justice Department in Washington were aware of the hateful treatment of black people caught in a drug sting gone haywire in the small panhandle town of Tulia, but no one bothered to do anything about it. The fact that a monstrous, racially motivated miscarriage of justice was occurring, that innocent people had been wrongfully accused and that entire families were being ruined did not prompt anyone to intervene. "Certainly we're concerned in any case about fair justice," said Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the Texas state attorney general, John Cornyn. But he said Mr. Cornyn had not become involved in the events in Tulia because it was his understanding that the Justice Department had been conducting a criminal investigation. "Attorney General Cornyn does stand ready to assist federal authorities in any way that we can assist them in their ongoing investigation," said Mr. Kelly. You can file that comment in the empty gesture folder. There is no ongoing criminal investigation. A couple of years ago, the Justice Department, after receiving complaints from the N.A.A.C.P. and others, did open an investigation of Tom Coleman, an undercover narcotics agent who conducted a clownish one-man sting operation that resulted in the arrests in the summer of 1999 of more than 10 percent of Tulia's black population. Bill Clinton was president at the time and the lead investigator was an F.B.I. agent from Amarillo. Mr. Coleman should have been an easy target. A white man who was fond of the word "nigger," he focused his "investigation" entirely on black people and a handful of whites who had relationships with them. He fingered people who were obviously innocent, routinely discarded evidence, scrawled important investigative information on his legs and arms, changed some of his testimony from trial to trial, and stumbled frequently into legal trouble himself. But George W. Bush was the governor of Texas during Mr. Coleman's Tulia shenanigans. And when Mr. Bush became president and appointed John Ashcroft attorney general, the Justice Department investigation was doomed. Lori Sharpe Day, an adviser to Mr. Ashcroft, informed the president of the American Bar Association last month that "an investigation of events in Tulia was conducted by the Criminal Section and recently closed." [Late Friday afternoon I got a call from a Justice Department spokesman who said that while the criminal investigation has been closed, the Tulia matter is still under "review" by the Civil Rights Division.] Mr. Cornyn, meanwhile, is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas against a black opponent. One of the items you are not likely to find in his campaign material is the photo of him presenting Tom 8/19/02 Page 2 of 2 Coleman with a Texas "Lawman of the Year Award" for 1999. With state and federal officials unwilling to aid the victims of this fiasco, and with several people serving unconscionably long prison sentences, it has fallen to a small group of dedicated lawyers to try to right some of these grievous wrongs. One of the members of this cadre, a white lawyer from Amarillo named Jeff Blackburn, who has offered his services pro bono, has managed to get the charges against two defendants dismissed. "This is an injustice that has to be corrected," he said. The legal challenges, supported by a number of private law firms, are being coordinated by the formidable Elaine Jones, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "It is rare that we've seen an entire community preyed upon in this way," said Ms. Jones. "But we're in it now and we're going to stay with it. I'm not going to rest until all the convictions are overturned. I just hope no one dies in prison. You know, the hog farmer [Joe Moore, who is in his late 50's and serving a sentence of 90 years] is now in poor health." The local authorities, including the prosecutor, Terry McEachern, are now keeping remarkably Iow profiles. The right thing to do would be to throw in the towel, to admit that there was not sufficient evidence to justify these cases. Tom Coleman's investigation was a nightmarish blend of incompetence and malevolence and no one should have to spend even an hour in jail because of it. 8/19/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 11:51 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Nevada Won't Appeal Porice Defamation Ruling August 13, 2002 Nevada won't appeal police defamation ruling ASSOCIATED PRESS CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The Nevada attorney general's office has decided not to try to resurrect the state law making it a crime to "defame a police officer." U.S. District Judge David Hagen ruled in June that the law was unconstitutional, saying he wasn't convinced police officers need special protections from allegations of misconduct. Robert Eakins sued the city of Reno after he was charged with knowingly filing false allegations of misconduct against a police officer. Hagen quoted the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Times v. Sullivan that there is "a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide open and that it may well include vehement, caustic and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials." Solicitor General Tony Clark said it was the judgment of the attorney general's staff that Hagen's decision shouldn't be appealed because the law "would not stand constitutional muster." "We did our duty," he said. "We stood up for it at the trial court level." But, he added, "There's no point throwing good money after bad." Gary Wolf of the Nevada Highway Patrol Association said that group is looking at the issue "to see if there is an alternative solution." "We've always felt that if the law was used properly, there should be no problems with it," he said. "In this case, the judge didn't think it was and that's how you lose laws." -- 8/19/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 11:51 AM To' Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Prince Georges Co: New CHief, Old Mission washingtonpost.com New Chief, Old Mission Wednesday, August 14, 2002; Page A28 GERALD M. WILSON, a lifelong resident of Prince George's County and an 18-year veteran of the county police department, is now the chief of the force, after serving five months as acting chief. Though county council confirmation of his appointment was unanimous, his term could be short; it will depend on who is elected county executive this fall and on what the new chief can accomplish in the meantime. No one should expect Chief Wilson to magically transform this long-troubled force into a high-morale, universally beloved and respected crime-busting machine. Still, there are immediate projects the chief should pursue in his quest to increase community confidence in the department. Even in his limited capacity as acting chief, Mr. Wilson won praise from representatives of county citizen groups as well as members of the judiciary for his efforts to open up the department to more public scrutiny. In contrast to John S. Farrell, who became defensive and reclusive when reports of brutality came to light, Chief Wilson has been consulting community leaders and working to repair morale among rank-and-file officers. Already he has held nearly a dozen news conferences, pounded some mean beats with officers and announced that he is working on ways to increase the force working the streets.. The hardworking men and women in the department need relief from repeated allegations of brutality, coercive interrogations that produced false confessions and the wall of silence that has shielded investigations of misconduct in their ranks. One of the most clouded cases -- still not satisfactorily resolved -- is that of Cpl. Carlton Jones, who shot and killed an innocent, unarmed college student after chasing him into Fairfax County nearly two years ago. The FBI, Fairfax County police, the Fairfax commonwealth's attorney and Prince George's County police all have investigated the matter but have not made their findings public. None of the officers involved in the shooting or the three-hour surveillance operation that led to it has been disciplined or charg ed with a crime. Chief Wilson has said he will decide whether to file disciplinary charges against Cpl. Jones -- and he ought to decide soon. Cpl. Jones is on military leave, having been called to serve with his Army National Guard unit after Sept. 11. But there are enough questions in the case to merit a full public airing of the matter, including open testimony by Cpl. Jones in a formal proceeding. © 2002 The Washington Post Company 8/19/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 11:51 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Inglewood to Act on Citizen Complaints hftp://www, lat!mes com/news/Iocal/la-me-ing!e9aug09 story?col!=!a %2 Dheadlines%2 Dca!iforn[a Inglewood to Act on Citizen Complaints Police: Officials want to clear more than 100 reports filed against officers. Agency has been moving to resolve case of taped beating. By MITCHELL LANDSBERG and ANNA GORMAN TIMES STAFF WRITERS August 9 2002 City officials in Inglewood have ordered the Police Department to begin investigating a backlog of more than 100 complaints filed by citizens against its officers, two of whom face criminal charges for their roles in the beating of a 16- year-old boy. City Administrator Joseph Rouzan Jr. said Thursday that he had ordered Police Chief Ronald Banks to begin investigating the cases immediately and to file a report on how he intends to clear the backlog. The Inglewood Police Department is made up of roughly 190 officers; it was not clear how many of those are the subjects of the backlogged complaints. Banks had been moving speedily to clear the one case that has brought his department unwanted nationwide attention, the beating of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson, which was captured on videotape. Officers Jeremy J. Morse and Bijan Darvish were indicted by a grand jury in connection with that incident, and Banks has moved to fire Morse. But a Superior Court judge halted those proceedings this week when she temporarily blocked the department from dismissing Morse, who is criminally charged with assault. It is not clear how long the other cases have languished, but the Police Department said it had received 58 complaints against officers from January through mid-July of thi~ year, and has completed many of those investigations. The department received 78 complaints last year, and 46 the year before, according to a police spokeswoman, Lt. Eve Irvine. "A lot of them have 30-day turnaround times," she said. Seventy-six complaints filed since the beginning of 1999 have been from people who claim to be victims of excessive force by officers. The other complaints include charges of abusive language, civil rights violations and other alleged misconduct. Allowing complaints to go for long periods without investigation can seriously compromise the ability of police officials to discipline officers found guilty of misconduct. In most cases, after one year, even the most serious offenses can be administratively handled only with reprimands; state law usually prohibits officials from suspending or firing officers for complaints that have languished for more than 12 months. Although the department did not provide figures from before 1999, City Atty. Charles Dickerson provided a list of ;i70 cases since 1990 in which lawsuits were filed against Inglewood police officers for civil rights violations, shootings and alleged use of excessive force. The city has paid out $1.8 million in claims for those cases, but hasn't had to pay more than $100,000 in a case since 1994. Irvine said the department could not say how many complaint investigations are still open. Asked if the department could check its files, she said, "We just don't have the staffing to do that." 8/19/02 Page 2 of 2 She also would not say how many complaints have been sustained, or how many officers have faced discipline or firing as a result of wrongdoing. Banks, who declined to comment on the backlog, has been under intense pressure to defuse tension following the videotaped altercation between police and Jackson at a gas station July 6. The nationally televised tape shows Morse slamming Jackson onto a car, then punching him in the face. His effort to quickly fire Morse came to a halt Wednesday when Judge Jean E. Matusinka issued a temporary restraining order against Banks and the city, ordering them to present their case in court Aug. 28. Morse's attorney in the administrative action, Richard Levine, had asked for the restraining order, alleging that the department violated state law by not reading Morse his constitutional rights before he was initially questioned and not allowing him to have his preferred attorney present at a later interrogation. Levine also alleged that Morse was not provided with notes, reports and other documents. Morse also submitted a declaration to the court saying that he was interrogated during his off-duty hours, which his attorney said in court papers is another violation of the police officers' bill of rights, a state code that spells out protections given to police. Rouzan said that the allegations are not valid and that the city plans to appeal the ruling. "We are just flabbergasted that the court did not allow us to continue our administrative process," Rouzan said. "To stop it in the middle is highly unusual." Rouzan said that Morse had not exhausted his remedies within the city. Banks recommended Aug. 1 that Morse be terminated, and he gave the officer written notification of his decision. Banks had scheduled a meeting with Morse for Monday, when the officer would have had an opportunity to try to change the chief's mind. That meeting has been postponed. Morse also can request an arbitration hearing, Rouzan said. Matusinka ruled that Morse would suffer "irreparable injury" if the department took punitive action against him before the court hearing. The city and the Police Department now have to give the judge reasons that she should not issue a preliminary injunction preventing the termination. In his recommendations issued Aug. 1, Banks also indicated that he believes Darvish, Morse's partner, deserves a short suspension for his role in the incident. Darvish has been charged criminally with filing a false police report. In his report, Darvish described the blow to Jackson's face but did not mention that Morse had slammed the boy onto the car. Instead, Darvish wrote that Morse "assisted Jackson to his feet and had him stand facing the police vehicle." The department's swift action against Morse and Darvish contrasts with the department's usual practice, which is to wait until criminal proceedings against either the officer or the complaining citizen are completed before conducting an internal investigation, according to Irvine. Rouzan, who served as police chief in both Inglewood and Compton before becoming city administrator, said it's not uncommon for police departments to wait for the completion of criminal cases before undertaking internal investigations, in part because attorneys for complainants often advise them not to talk to investigators until the criminal proceedings are through. Rouzan also revealed Thursday that Morse has been the subject of "more than half a dozen" complaints in the past year. That many complaints, he said, "certainly should ring an alarm bell.... If you start seeing the same guy or gal's name on a complaint three or four times a year, you want to take a look at that and say, 'What's going on here?'" 8/19/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 9:42 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Sports Illustrated Article on DWB Color Scheme By Rick Reilly Sports Illustrated August 12, 2002 If you're a black pro athlete who owns a sweet ride and lives in a ritzy neighborhood in this country, chances are good you've been busted for DWB. Driving While Black. "It happens to me all the time, especially in Tampa," says Atlanta Braves outfielder Gary Sheffield, who grew up in Tampa. "1 go home to see old friends, and I get stopped. Or if I'm driving slow, looking at my old neighborhood, I get stopped. It never happens in my truck, just in my nice cars." Denver Broncos defensive tackle Trevor Pryce says an officer followed him home once, pulled him over and said, "1 don't think this is your car." And Pryce replied, "Why, because I'm black and driving a Corvette?" Pryce has been pulled over for DWB so many times he has a new strategy. "1 pull up right next to cops," he says, "roll down my windows and play my music as loud as I can. Nobody would de that driving a stolen car, right?" "It's happened to me eight or nine times," says Miami Heat guard Jim Jackson. "1 asked one cop in Dallas why he pulled me over, and he goes, 'Oh, we're just doing random checks.' Right. Random checks of black men in nice cars." When comedian Chris Rock was pulled over on a DWB, he jokes, "It scared me so bad, I thought I had stolen my car!" Three times this summer, Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams says, Fort Lauderdale police have stopped or hassled him for nothing more than the color of his skin. "One cop pulled me over for no other reason than I was a black man driving an expensive car [a Hummer]," says Williams, the former Heisman Trophy winner who moved to south Florida after being traded to the Dolphins in March. "They said later it was because my tags were expired. But it was a handwritten temporary license they couldn't possibly have been able to see. For that they call the drug dogs and I get handcuffed?" The stop and search lasted an hour and a half, Williams says, and then he was ticketed for expired tags and for not having his driver's license and proof of insurance in his possession. Twice cops have knocked on his front door to tell him his garage was open, Williams says, and then asked him for proof that he owned his cars. They questioned him about what he did for a living and how much he paid for the cars. It's the kind of frustration that white athletes never have to deal with. Williams has started taking the long way to work so he doesn't have to drive past a police station. Other guys just give up and drive crappy cars. Sometimes these guys don't even have to be in a car. 8/19/02 Page 2 of 2 "You go into a Tiffany's in the mall," says ,Jackson, "and right away you notice the li§hts [bd§hten]. Then the clerk follows you around, pretending she's just cleaning up. I came out of a restaurant once and the valet goes, 'Man, what did you do to get a car like this?' I was like, '1 got a job, that's what I did? The dreadlocked Williams says that when he flies first class, more times than not attendants ask to see his ticket, assuming he's in the wrong seat. Houston Rockets forward Glen Rice wasn't allowed to check into a five-star hotel by a woman behind the desk who insisted, "1 know what you're about." "What am I about?" asked Rice, who refused to leave until he was given a room. The desk clerk called police, who recognized Rice and advised the woman to give him a room. That's when Rice said no thanks and walked out. Says Jackson, "1 don't think most of white America understands how it feels. You work hard to be successful, to get some nice things, and people treat you like you stole them." "1 guess cops think we're drug dealers," says Latrell Sprewell, the New York Knicks guard. "It pisses you off, but what pisses you off more is that when they see who you are, they suddenly change it to, 'Uh, I pulled you over to, uh, can I have your autograph?'" When you mix cops with young men who feel persecuted, things can get volatile. "1 feel myself boiling over," says Jackson. "But if I started yelling at the cops, next thing you know, I'd be in jail." Or worse. Remember the four young unarmed black men on their way to a basketball tryout who were profiled by troopers and stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike, then had 11 shots fired into their van, wounding three of them? Williams was so frustrated by his treatment after one DWB stop that he started to walk home in protest, got a block and a half, then sat down on a curb and cried. "It hurts your feelings," he says. "Nobody likes to be treated like a criminal." And we wonder why so many black athletes are angry. 8/19/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Malvina Monteiro [mmonteiro@ci.cambridge.maus] Monday, August 19, 2002 10:55 AM Sue Quinn Boston- Perjurer imperils 6 years of cases Ex-officer linked to Public Counsel By Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff, 8/19/2002 More than 600 cases handled by the state public defender's office over the last six years could be appealed because they were investigated by a private detective company connected to a disgraced former Boston police officer convicted of perjury, the chief counsel for the office said Friday. Carlos Luna, a detective with the city's drug unit in the late 1980s who was convicted of making up information to obtain search warrants and then lying about it under oath, works for Scollay Square Investigations, according to attorneys and private investigators who know him. And, according to its chief, Scollay Square Investigations has worked on hundreds cases for the Committee for Public Counsel Services. William Leahy, the chief counsel for CPCS, suspended Scollay Square Investigations from doing business with the agency July 25, when a report began circulating that Luna - whose high-profile perjury trial in 1991 blighted the reputation of the city's police department - was connected to the company and working as an investigator there. Letters to 40 attorneys who used Scollay Square Investigations were mailed Thursday, asking them why they hired a detective agency with an association to Luna. Depending on their answers, the attorneys could be barred from work with CPCS, Leahy said. If Luna, 46, investigated a case and uncovered evidence that could help a defendant, he would not have been able to effectively testify on behalf of that defendant because of his background, Leahy said. ''It could mean that counsel was ineffective and the convictions are invalid,'' Leahy said. ''It could be grounds for an appeal if that person was convicted. It's something we're very, very concerned about.'' Leahy said he doubts Luna ever testified ''because, what's the first question a prosecutor is going to ask him?'' But Leahy said he plans to have every case Luna may have worked on reviewed by his office. Neither Luna nor his wife, Francesca - who is the owner of Scollay Square Investigations - returned multiple telephone calls to their home and business seeking comment. Luna was a 32-year-old detective when his partner, Detective Sherman Griffiths, was fatally shot in the head during a raid on a Dorchester apartment in 1988. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped and then reinstated against the alleged killer when it was discovered that Luna invented the informant - and his testimony - to obtain a search warrant to enter the apartment. The alleged shooter was eventually acquitted and, 21/2 years after the incident, Luna was convicted of 25 counts of perjury, sentenced to five years' probation, and subsequently fired from the force. Scollay Square Investigations began getting work from CPCS almost immediately after it was licensed on June 25, 1996, by Francesca Luna, who is also listed as the firm's president. 1 The firm was incorporated July 22, 1996. Between Sept. 6, 1996, and July 26, 2002, the company submitted 691 bills to the public defender's office for a total of $473,062.50, according to documents from the state comptroller's office. The pay scale for investigators at CPCS starts at $30 an hour and runs to $70 an hour. Tom Giblin, a defense lawyer who often takes cases for the agency, said last week that in the case of Scollay Square Investigations it's money well spent. Giblin has used the company for more than 100 cases and worked with Luna on several. He described Luna as a sharp investigator who was a good cop, scapegoated by higher-ranking officers. And he characterized Leahy's shock that Luna has been on the CPCS payroll as disingenuous. ~I've had him on witness lists, he~s signed bills, everybody at the committee knows Carlos,'~ Giblin said. ' 'I think CPCS is just trying to cover themselves.'' Giblin said Luna has never testified for him, but, with his client's informed consent, he would let him. ~I have no question about Carlos's credibility whatsoever,'' Giblin said. ''Just because a guy has a felony conviction doesn't mean you should not hire him.'' Thomas Jackson, the vice president of the Licensed Private Detectives Association of Massachusetts, said he became aware that Luna was working for Scollay Square Investigations soon after it was incorporated. Jackson discouraged anyone from hiring him because of his reputation, but said there is a shortage of good, Spanish-speaking, streetwise investigators in Massachusetts. Luna filled that niche, Jackson said. Bruce Carroll, an attorney who has done work for CPCS, said he also knew that Luna was working as an investigator for CPCS and saw him in court occasionally. Carroll said he would never hire him ''because of his past.'' But at least 40 attorneys like Giblin - all of them in private practice, not on staff at CPCS - did hire Scollay Square Investigations, Leahy said. ''We want to know if they knew Carlos Luna was employed there, and if they didn't know, why didn't they know,'' Leahy said. CPCS serves defendants who can't afford an attorney. Investigators can also be appointed by a judge to help a defense. Typically, investigators cost about $800 per case and are recommended to a judge by the defendant's attorney, Leahy said. Although the judge handling the case approves the money for investigators, they do not always know who they are because they are not necessarily named by the attorneys when a request is submitted. If Luna is indeed working for Scollay Square Investigations, his wife's license could be revoked, said Lieutenant Richard Cashin, commanding officer of the Massachusetts State Police Certification Unit. When a private detective license is issued, Cashin said, only the background of the person applying for the license is checked. Employees of the company don't have to be licensed private detectives, but by law a license-holder cannot hire anyone with a felony conviction. ~ 'There are a lot o£ companies that slip through the cracks,'' Cashin said. When told that Luna appeared to be working illegally, Giblin said he wasn't familiar with that law. ''If CPCS says not to use him anymore, I won't use him,'' Giblin said. ''But I will use him in private investigations.'' This story ran on page Bi of the Boston Globe on 8/19/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. 2 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Monday, August 19, 2002 1:41 PM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] NYTimes.com Article: Monitor Reports More Progress by Town's Police This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by hector.w.soto@phila.gov. Monitor Reports More Progress by Town's Police August 17, 2002 By WINNIE HU WALLKILL, N.Y., Aug. 16 - A federal monitor for the troubled Police Department in this Orange County town has found that "significant progress" was made in the past six months to turn around a force accused last year of harassing women and intimidating its critics. The monitor, Dean M. Esserman, wrote that the department had hired a new police chief, raised salaries and made other positive changes in a July report that was released this week. Previously, he had also noted improvements in a January report. Mr. Esserman was appointed by a federal district court judge in June 2001 to oversee the department for four years. The appointment came after accusations of harassment and abuse by police officers led to an investigation by the state attorney general's office. In his latest report, Mr. Esserman wrote, "although the department is clearly still in a rebuilding mode, the progress in the last six months has been much faster and more consistent than in the prior seven months." John Ward, the Wallkill town supervisor, said today that the report showed the Police Department was heading in the right direction. Police Chief Robert C. Hertman said the department suffered in the past from "systemic leadership failures" that have since been addressed. Chief Hertman said he expanded the department by hiring four more police officers for a total of 26, and planned to hire seven more. In addition, he said police officials have tried to encourage citizens to come forward with complaints about the department by setting up a 24-hour hot line and publicizing the complaint process in the local news media. The department has received 28 complaints so far this year, or more than double the number from the year before. They included six against a dispatcher who was accused of discourteous behavior. The dispatcher resigned after department charges were brought against her, the police chief said. "None of the complaints deal with the type of 1 conduct charges brought against the department in the past," he said. Mark Peters, an assistant attorney general, acknowledged that the department had made improvements under Chief Hertman, but pointed to continuing problems. "There are still improper stops and poor paperwork, and those are things we expect to see corrected immediately," he said. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/O8/17/nyregion/17WALL.html?ex=lO30771678&ei=l &en=f5eTcSfTaOfOffgO 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 onlinesales@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. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Monday, August 19, 2002 2:33 PM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] Police officer, 25, charged with abuse; firing imminent This Story has been sent to you by : hwsa@aol.com Police officer, 25, charged with abuse; firing imminent A city police officer was ordered fired yesterday after an internal investigation into allegations of physical and sexual abuse against his girlfriend resulted in his arrest, authorities said. The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/3882763.htm(c) 2001 philly and wire service sources. Ail Rights Reserved. Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Philadelphia Inquirer I 08/17/2002 I Police officer, 25, charged with abuse; firing imminent mClick hero to visit other RealCities sites :') ~":' /:3', qr¢~ Newspaper Ads Online Piay ThatsP, adn:0m's Fantasy Game and you could win a Richard Petty Ddvlng Exp! 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Subscribe to The Inquirer Have The Philadelphia inquirer delivered to your home everyday, ~> Order now Posted on Sat, Aug. 17, 2002 Police officer, 25, charged with abuse; firing imminent A city police officer was ordered fired yesterday after an internal investigation into allegations of physical and sexual abuse against his girlfriend resulted in his arrest, authorities said. Officer Brian Zaleski, 25, of the 26th District in East Philadelphia, turned himself in and was charged with five counts each of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, and single counts of attempted rape, attempted sexual assault, indecent assault, false imprisonment, and unlawful restraint. Police Commissioner Sylvester iVl. Johnson immediately suspended Zaleski, an officer since April 1999, for 30 days with intent to dismiss. email this I print this Look who's hiring careerbu Find a Car: Find a Home: Agents and more Real Est Find an Apartm ape ffents.i Classifieds: Shop Nearby: Fantasy Gan, anrl you could BRING NJ Updated Tuesday~ l 20~ 200:2 ~> Continental recal tires - 07:45 AH ~ >> North Korean lea arrives In Russia 07:40 AH PDT ~ Russian helicopt, crash toll rises t( 07:35 AH PDT ~ Sydney Archbish Steps Aside - 07: PDT http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/3882763 .htm(c 8/20/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Pierce Murphy [LPMurphy@cityofboise.org] Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 6:10 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Investigations Called For The Inddependent, August 17, 2002: Sinn Fein claims video proves riot police 'bias' By Paul Peachey Sinn Fein said yesterday that it ~vould ask Northern Ireland's police ombudsman to investigate the way officers handled violent clashes at a flashpoint area of east Belfast. Mitchel McLaughlin, Sinn Fein's chairman, accused police and the Army of a one-sided approach to disturbances in the Short Strand area after an evening of sustained violence along the peace line on Thursday night. He said police were lying when they claimed nationalists were instigating clashes in the area, a claim denied by Unionists. Mr McLaughlin said a video taken by nationalist residents sho~ved the area under attack for six hours from the loyalist side of the peace line. "There appears to be an institutionalised form of an acceptable level of violence so long as that is visited upon the nationalist community," he said. There were reports of further violence in north Belfast yesterday with several hundred people involved in disturbances in the Catholic Ardoyne area. Police were investigating claims of shots being fired in the neighbouring Protestant Glenbryn district. Mr McLaughlin toured the glass-strewn streets of the Short Strand area, where families said they were attacked with missiles, including nuts and bolts, and fireworks. Glass bombs and pipe bombs were also thrown, they said. Unionist politicians and loyalists accused Short Strand residents of initiating much of the violence on the peace line this summer. Video footage of last night's disturbances taken by nationalists was given to two local television stations in Belfast. Sinn Fein said a copy of the film was being given to the British and Irish governments and to the police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, to support its call for an inquiry into the policing. The video showed a build-up of violence, with fireworks being fired over the peace line, Sinn Fein said. It also showed police and the Army moving into the nationalist Clandeboye Drive area when it was deserted, and a loyalist rioter firing objects with a catapult from 8/20/02 an area where the security forces should have had a permanent presence. Unionists in east Belfast disputed Sinn Fein's claims, saying "astonishing" violence was directed at Protestants. Trevor Ringland, a former rugby international, who earlier this week urged people to condemn sectarian attacks against Catholics, said: "I saw naked sectarian hatred being directed by republicans against their neighbouring Protestant community." © 2002 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd The Belfast Telegraph, August 18, 2002: Cops suspended in crash probe By Alan Murray TWO PSNI officers have been suspended and could face criminal charges following the Police Ombudsman's investigation into a fatal car crash in west Belfast. A further five constables have been placed on restricted duties as a result of the Ombudsman's inquiry into the horror smash involving a stolen car and an armoured police vehicle. Falls Road man Raymond Boyle was a front seat passenger in the stolen car that collided with a police Land-Rover on the Whiterock Road on May 1 last year. The 21-year-old died from his injuries in hospital. Four other people in the car were injured. The Metro car had been stolen from the Castlereagh area in east Belfast the previous afternoon. Reports at the time suggested it was being driven at speed at around lam on the Tuesday morning when it collided with the Land-Rover. It was also reported that it was travelling on the wrong side of the road when it collided with the second of two PSNI vehicles. At the time the Ombudsman's chief investigator, Dave Woods, said he intended to forensically reconstruct the incident to establish the exact circumstances of the impact. West Belfast MP Gerry Adams extended sympathy to Boyle's family, but said there would not be much popular sympathy for him and his fellow 'joyriders'. Three police officers in the Land-Rover were treated in hospital for minor injuries. Page 2 of 3 8/20/02 One officer serving in west Belfast told Sunday Life: "The two drivers have been suspended and other officers have been warned that they could face prosecution. It is just adding to the terribly low morale among officers stationed in the area. "We are effectively seven officers short for patrol duties, and then people wonder where all the police are." A spokesman for the Ombudsman's Office said that a file is now being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the death of Mr Boyle and the office could not make any comment. A PSNI spokesman said: "The Police Service co-operated with the Ombudsman's office in this matter which is now with the DPP for direction. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage." A Police Federation spokesman said all the officers would be supported and legally represented if the DPP recommended any charges should be brought in relation to the fatal accident. Publication Page 3 of 3 8/20/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 10:01 AM To: Update@NACOLE,org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA: 68 Yr Old Man Shot By Officer Wins $2Mil Jury Award http://www Jatimes~c~m/neWs/~ca~/~a-me-sh~t17aug17-st~ry?c~!!=Ia%2Dhead~ines%2Dca!if~rnia Man Shot by Officer Wins Jury Award Police: The $2-million verdict caps a three-week civil trial. The 68-year-old victim had sought $10 million in the June 2000 incident. By SCOTT GLOVER TIMES STAFF WRITER August17 2002 A Los Angeles Superior Court jury Friday awarded $2.045 million to a 68-year-old man who was shot in the back by an LAPD officer two years ago after a dispute over a traffic ticket. The civil court jurors determined that then-LAPD Officer Ronald Orosco violated Charles Beatty's civil rights when he fired four shots at the motorist after an argument between the two men. Beatty was hit once. The bullet remains lodged in his back. Charged with the crime of firing into an occupied vehicle, Orosco pleaded no contest and is serving a five-year sentence in state prison. Beatty's lawyers had asked jurors to award him $10 million to pay for his medical bills, compensate him for continuing pain and suffering and to punish Orosco for shooting him. Despite the lesser amount, attorney Carl E. Douglas said he was elated by the verdict. "Hopefully, a very powerful message has been sent--and will be received by the city of Los Angeles and the LAPD--so that tragedies of this type can be prevented in the future," said Douglas, who tried the case with attorney John E. Sweeney. Beatty, a tall, gray-haired man dressed Friday in blue jeans and a corduroy sports coat1 said he was pleased with the verdict. "1 feel that I've been compensated," he said. '1 don't think the amount really matters." The verdict in the case followed a three-week trial and three days of deliberations that several jurors described as highly emotional. Some jurors wanted to award Beatty $4 million. Others felt the case was worth less than $1 million. "It wasn't fair. He should have gotten more," said jury forewoman Pearl VVhitfield, 58. Whitfield said some jurors placed less value on Beatty's life because "he's not a doctor or lawyer or something like that." Juror Angle Gillingham said she found it difficult to give Beatty as much money as the jury finally did because she believed he was "50% responsible" for getting shot in the first place. Gillingham said she believed Beatty had been obnoxious and argumentative with Orosco and his partner, Officer Gorgonio Medina. 8/20/02 Page 2 of 2 '1 think he contributed to what he got," Gillingham said. But juror Billy Kimball said some African American members of the panel argued persuasively that jurors who did not live in areas such as the one in the LAPD's 77th Division, where the shooting took place, could not understand the fear of being confronted by police. "They said the next time this happens, it's going to be to me or my kid or my husband," Kimball said outside the courtroom. "That's hard to argue with. It creates a very emotional situation." Jurors reported at midday that they could not render a verdict on allegations of false imprisonment and civil rights violations by Medina. At that point, Beatty's lawyers agreed to drop those charges from the complaint. Jurors reached their verdict with respect to ex-officer Orosco hours later. Deputy City Atty. Richard Arias, who represented Medina and the city in the case, said simply, "Justice was done." He declined to elaborate. The encounter between Beatty and the officers took place on June 14, 2000. Orosco and Medina, who were in an unmarked police car and were not in uniform, were stopped at a traffic light talking to a transient when Beatty pulled up behind them. Beatty said he waited as the traffic signal changed from red to green several times before he finally became impatient and pulled around the nondescript Chevrolet. He said he was unaware at the time that the two men inside the car were police officers. As Beatty pulled away, he made an illegal left turn. The officers then decided to pull him over. Beatty admits he became argumentative, insisting that the officers should not have been blocking traffic. After he was ticketed, he and Orosco traded insults as Beatty walked toward his car. At that point, Orosco said, he decided to arrest Beatty for allegedly challenging him to a fight. According to the officer, as he attempted to remove Beatty from the car, Beatty resisted and tried to drive away. Fearful that he was going to be dragged into traffic, Orosco said he opened fire, hitting Beatty in the back as he drove off. 8/20/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Pierce Murphy [LPMurphy@cityofboise.org] Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 10:06 AM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Australia: Ombudsman Calls On Police to Improve Complaint Handling AAP, August 19, 2002: Police complaints openness urged The New South Wales ombudsman has called on the police force to publicly report on police performance in managing complaints. Bruce Barbour said: "Police commanders are improving in managing complaints, and the community can have confidence that most complaints against police are handled well. "Some local commanders, however, are not performing well. "There remains room for improvement, and senior police need to ensure that recent gains are not lost. "Because NSW police is responsible for dealing with most of the complaints against police officers, it should report to the community about how well it is managing those complaints," he said. The ombudsman urged police to develop standards for police investigations and to hold commanders to account for meeting those benchmarks. 8/20/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 2:08 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] NACOLE Conference Information The NACOLE Summer Newsletter has detailed information about the Conference to be held in Cambridge, MA., starting the evening of October 31, and runs through Sunday Nov. 3, 2002. A copy of the newsletter is attached to this email. In addition, it is posted at nacole.org. We will be US mailing this information. IF YOU DO NOT NEED A HARD COPY MAILED, please not[fy Malvina Monteiro ASAP at this emaih MMonteiro@Ci. Cambridge. MA. US Save with EARLY REGISTRATION UNTIL OCTOBER 10, 2002. Make Hotel Reservations ASAP to obtain moms at $135 per night. Conference mom rates are available for 3 days before and after the conference. We look forward to learning and sharing with each of you. Sue Quinn for the NACOLE Board *** eSa£e scanned this email for malicious content *** *** IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders *** ***The NACOLE Summer 2002 Newsletter is included in the 9/10/02 PCRB Meeting Packet, 8/21/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Kelvyn.Anderson@phila.gov Friday, August 23, 2002 11:15 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] Council Rejects Citizen Review Council rejects citizen police review Chief sees no problems to justify independent boards August 22, 2002 By MARY CALLAHAN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT SONOHA Sonoma City Council members rejected requests for independent police oversight Wednesday, calling it unwarranted for a 16-member force with few major problems. Councilman Joe Costello, who raised the idea after the city was named in a lawsuit, stood alone in his support for a civilian review board. He said the current system of internal review offers inadequate protection for citizens who believe they are victims of police misconduct. ~ong Costello's four colleagues, only Councilman Larry Barnett expressed any indecision. But he said his confidence in Police Chief John Gurney outweighed any other concerns. "Nobody's perfect," Barnett said. "All kinds of human beings make all kinds of mistakes." Barnett said he wouldn't excuse "wrong behavior," but "I'm going to excuse human behavior." Costello suggested alternatives, including allowing appeals of police decisions that would be reviewed by the city manager along with one or two citizens or council members. There wasn't any other council support for that idea. The council did approve Gurney's request to appoint a citizens committee 1 to advise him on policy issues and other matters. That approach was criticized by Judith Volkerts, past chairwoman of the local chapter of the ~kmerican Civil Liberties Union, who said such committees lack the necessary independence to provide real oversight. "I am very disappointed in the City Council's decision against an independent civilian review board," she said. Mayor A1 Mazza and Councilmen Dick Ashford and Ken Brown joined Barnett in saying the time hadn't come for civilian review in Sonoma. Mazza said surveys of city residents in recent years found no outcry about police misconduct. "The citizens of this community were given an opportunity to approach us," he said. A half-dozen people spoke in favor of a civilian review board at Wednesday's meeting. "The policy needs a change," said Tom Whitworth, whose lawsuit prompted the discussion. "It can go wrong and it can go badly wrong," he said, adding that his complaint about being barred from a public meeting by a uniformed officer was investigated by police and declared unfounded. He says six eyewitnesses were never interviewed. "The police," said Will Shonbrun of Boyes Hot Springs, "can investigate themselves, find themselves not guilty of this conduct and no explanation (is offered) about why." Steve Kyle disagreed, citing Sonoma police statistics showing only six complaints last year despite handling about 14,500 incidents. "This is not L.A.," Kyle said, "we don't have Rodney King. This is not New York, we do not have police shooting immigrants in the hallways." Gurney said review panels may be appropriate in cities with rampant police corruption or community distrust. Neither problem exists in Sonoma, he said. Around the state, 17 cor~munities have citizen police review commissions. There are about 350 police departments, he said. Sonoma has logged 25 citizen complaints about police conduct since 1997, according to a report Gurney filed with the council. Three were sustained after internal investigations. Another 22 complaints were initiated from inside the department, the report said. Twenty have been sustained. Costello began inquiring about police review procedures because of 2 Whitworth's lawsuit, which says he was illegally barred from a Sonoma Valley Health Care District meeting last year. At present, such cases are investigated by police and may only be appealed to the city attorney, officials said. Costello has said he is troubled by the notion of police investigating complaints against members of their own force, which can create the perception that the inquiries aren't even-handed or thorough. He also noted that while people can appeal decisions made by other departments, their only recourse with a police complaint is a lawsuit. "In my view, the absence (of) a forum, i.e. police review commission or City Council, invites unnecessary, expensive, and time-consuming litigation," he wrote to fellow council members. No local government in Sonoma County has adopted civilian police review though advocates pressed for them in the mid-1990s following several fatal police shootings. From 1995-97, seven men were killed in confrontations with police -- five in Santa Rosa, one in Petaluma and one in Rohnert Park. Sonoma has had no such cases in recent history. The Rohnert Park case triggered the greatest controversy and ultimately resulted in a $1 million settlement paid by the city to the family of Kuan Chung Kao, who was shot outside his home after threatening an officer with a 6-foot pole. In 2000, the California advisory commission to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission recommended independent review panels for Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and unincorporated Sonoma County, acting on testimony received during a public hearing in Santa Rosa. A 1998 Press Democrat Poll showed 62 percent support for civilian review boards. You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mcallahan@pressdemocrat.com. Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update nacole.org Marian Karr Page 1 of 2 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 11:27 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Tulia Texas: Confused Inquiry A Confused Inquiry By BOB HERBERT NYTimes Aug 2002 L under pressure, and after a great deal of confusion among its own officials, the U.S. Justice Department has said it will continue its criminal investigation into a drug sting gone haywire in the Texas panhandle town of Tulia. Just last month an adviser to Attorney General John Ashcroft, Lori Sharpe Day, wrote in a letter to the president of the American Bar Association: "An investigation of events in Tulia was conducted by the Criminal Section and recently closed." Those "events" included the arrests on July 23, 1999, of dozens of Tulia residents on narcotics trafficking charges. Local authorities rounded up more than 10 percent of the town's black population. The arrests were the culmination of an absurd one-man "investigation" by Tom Coleman, a narcotics agent who did not wear a wire or conduct any video surveillance, did not keep detailed records of his alleged drug buys and wrote such important information as the names of suspects and the dates of transactions on his legs and other parts of his body. After a series of columns in this space, an outcry arose and several public officials asked the Justice Department to take action. Senator Charles Schumer of New York, in a letter to Mr. Ashcroft, said: "This is far worse than Keystone Kops police work. It looks more like deliberate racial profiling, arresting and prosecuting with trumped-up evidence. Officer Coleman's 'investigation' is more reminiscent of the Old South of 1962 than the New South of 2002." Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton noted in a letter to Mr. Ashcroft that Mr. Coleman had made criminal allegations against people who were subsequently shown to be innocent. But most of the time his word was enough to send people to prison, sometimes for astonishingly long sentences. The "evidence" in those cases, said Mrs. Clinton, "was simply the testimony of Mr. Coleman. Yet any reasonable review of the public information made available clearly establishes that Mr. Coleman's testimony in many cases was at best inconclusive, and at worst constituted perjury." In a direct plea to Mr. Ashcroft, Mrs. Clinton said, "1 implore you to reopen the criminal investigation of Mr. Coleman as soon as possible." As requests for some sort of action continued to come in, Justice Department officials seemed baffled about the status of their alleged investigation into the events in Tulia. A criminal investigation of Tom Coleman's activities was started two years ago, when Bill Clinton was president. I called the Justice Department two weeks ago to ask about the status of that investigation. A spokesman, Mark Corallo, said that it was continuing. I told him I had a copy of the letter from Ms. 8/26/02 Page 2 of 2 Day to Robert Hirshorn, president of the Bar Association, saying the investigation had been closed. Mr. Corallo seemed surprised. He said Ms. Day had probably been mistaken, but that he would check. He called back and said, "Mystery solved? According to Mr. Corallo, the criminal investigation had, in fact, been closed, but the matter was still under "review" by the Civil Rights Division. This week the official account changed yet again. In a letter to the editor of The New York Times, the Justice Department's director of public affairs, Barbara Comstock, said the information given to the Bar Association was erroneous, and the criminal investigation "remains open." "The department apologizes," said Ms. Comstock, "for any confusion resulting from the issuance of that letter." She said, "The Criminal Section is working expeditiously to review all of the relevant evidence to determine whether to prosecute for federal criminal civil rights laws violations." If the department is serious about this matter-- and that remains to be seen -- it will not limit its investigation to Mr. Coleman's activities. There was an entire criminal justice hierarchy that worked in concert to send the Tulia defendants to prison, including the district attorney who prosecuted the cases, the sheriffwho hired Mr. Coleman, and the regional narcotics task force that trained and supervised him. Federal investigators who are both honest and diligent will find plenty of evidence of official wrongdoing waiting for them in Tulia. 8/26/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 1 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 11:27 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] NJ Settles Profiling Suit Filed by PA Drivers N.J. settles profiling suit filed by Pa. drivers Wednesday, August 21, 2002By JOHN P. MCALPIN Associated Press TRENTON - Racial profiling's price tag grew by $250,000 in New Jersey with another legal settlement to minority motorists who said they were targeted by state troopers. Lawyers for the three motorists claimed Tuesday that this is the largest payout to people who were simply stopped and searched on state highways. New Jersey has already paid $12.95 million in damages to four minorities shot at by two troopers and another $5 million to black and Hispanic officers who say they were discriminated against. Other discrimination lawsuits are pending. "The money that is being paid here is being paid for the humiliation these men were subjected to by having their cars pulled over and being searched," said Stefan Presser, legal director of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Thomas White, 71, Fred Hamiel, 43, and Tyrone Hamilton, 36, said in their legal complaints that between 1997 and 1999 they were pulled over and in some cases searched simply because of their race. The men were all from Pennsylvania, Presser said. New Jersey did not formally admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but lawyers for the men said the deal indicates the state knew the practice was wrong. "If they're paying a quarter of a million dollars, it's not because it's frivolous," attorney Alan Yarvin said. In a statement, New Jersey Attorney General David Samson said the state is focused on reforming the state police. "A resolution of these cases, which were filed under the previous administration, will be a major step in achieving that goal," Samson said. The case was filed in June 1999, but was put on hold while a similar case proceeded through the state courts. It was reopened last year after that class certification was denied. The state has also dropped criminal drug charges against people whose arrests were based on seamhes determined to be the result of the practice of police targeting minority drivers. Racial profiling gained national prominence after an April 1998 shooting on the New Jersey Turnpike in which two troopers fired on a van occupied by four minority men, wounding three. The troopers eventually pleaded guilty to official misconduct, and the state wound up paying a $12.95 million settlement to the van's occupants. 8/26/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 11:27 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Terror Probe Feuds Revealed by Secret Court http://www, latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/!a-na-documents23aug23~story Terror Probe Feuds Revealed by Secret Court Law: In unprecedented disclosure, documents cite 75 misleading FBI warrant requests and an order curbing Ashcroft bid for more powers. By ERIC LICHTBLAU and JOSH MEYER LA TIMES STAFF WRITERS August 23 2002 WASHINGTON -- in a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the nation's most secretive courts, documents released Thursday show that the federal judges have voiced grave misgivings for years about the way the Justice Department has handled classified wiretaps and searches in terrorism cases. The FBI gave false information in more than 75 requests for top-secret warrants brought in recent years before the special court, which hears cases related to international terrorism and espionage probes, the documents revealed. Known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court, or FlSA court, the panel reviews government requests to spy on suspected foreign agents or terrorists. The special court was so concerned by Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's behind-the-scenes efforts to broaden the FBI's spying abilities after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that in May it secretly ordered Ashcroft to scale back the regulations, the documents showed. On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee, which had asked the FlSA court for access to the documents in July, released 55 pages to the public. Committee members had expressed concern about what some saw as a clampdown on information about the administration's anti-terrorism campaign. In one case, the documents said, former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh falsely certified to the court that the target of the warrant was not under criminal investigation, when in fact he was. In another instance, information was improperly shared between criminal and intelligence investigations, despite claims by the FBI that the firewall between the two had been honored, the court said. And in another case, the FBI failed to disclose to the court that the bureau had a "previous relationship" with the target of a warrant, who had been interviewed by a criminal prosecutor. On Thursday, the Justice Department appealed the order to scale back the regulations, marking the first time the department has initiated such an appeal of a ruling by the FlSA court, which is so secretive that it meets in a windowless chamber deep inside the Justice Department, its operations heavily guarded. "We think [the judges] got it wrong," said a senior Justice Department official, adding that the error-riddled warrant requests occurred before Ashcroft took office and reforms have been instituted to correct the problem. The department believes the court's May ruling unnecessarily limits its ability to let prosecutors, FBI agents and intelligence operatives share information in rooting out international terrorists. "As a practical matter, their opinion limits our ability to engage in the kind of coordination which we believe is both helpful and necessary to our ability to protect national security," Justice Department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said. The tensions revealed in the newly released documents cut to the heart of the ongoing debate about how far the FBI and the Justice Department should be able to go in gathering intelligence in the fight against terrorism · FlSA court Presiding Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said that it was the first time in its 23-year history that the entire court has released an unclassified opinion. 8/26/02 Page 2 of 3 Judges Were Hesitant Initially, the judges indicated privately that they would not release the documents to Congress because it could compromise the separation of powers, according to a congressional official who asked not to be identified. "We were all pretty surprised to get them," the official said. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, hailed the release of the documents as a "ray of sunshine for the judicial branch." Lashing out at "the administration's lack of cooperation," Leahy said the documents provide "a window on the process that will help us better understand how the laws are being implemented and how well they are working." The FlSA court has approved thousands of requests over the years from the Justice Department allowing federal agents to conduct secret searches and surveillance of people in the United States who are suspected of having links to foreign agents or powers, often involving terrorism or espionage. Requests are hardly ever denied, and the 11-member court noted in an unclassified opinion included in Thursday's documents that such warrants are "highly intrusive." In fact, the suspect is never notified that he is the target of a search or a surveillance. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department came to rely more heavily on the secret surveillances as a way of gathering intelligence on terrorism suspects, and Ashcroft convinced Congress to loosen the rules for such operations as part of the USA Patriot Act. Intelligence-gathering no longer has to be the primary purpose for executing an intelligence warrant, but merely a purpose. Ashcroft effectively reversed a trend that began in the mid-1990s, when then-Atty. Gen. Janet Reno erected a high firewall between intelligence-gathering investigations and criminal probes to guard against undue invasion of privacy. She frustrated federal investigators by ordering that intelligence operatives have virtually no contact with criminal prosecutors, who must meet higher legal standards to win approval of wiretaps and searches. Ashcroft, in a plan presented to the FlSA court in March, moved to eliminate that "bright line" by giving criminal prosecutors broad new powers to take part in intelligence operations. "The attorney general seized authority that has not been granted to him by the Constitution or the Congress," Marc Rotenberg, head of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, said Thursday. The FlSA court, in its May 17 ruling, appeared to agree. The justices said that the department went too far in loosening the regulations that govern intelligence-gathering, and they scaled back part of Ashcreft's plan. The court found that parts of Ashcroft's plan "are NOT reasonably designed" to safeguard privacy rights. The court said the plan could mute the intent of the law to gather information for foreign intelligence operations, not for criminal investigations. The court's hesitancy to endorse Ashcroft's plan for broadened intelligence-gathering operations appeared rooted in a years-long series of run-ins with the FBI over the accuracy of the bureau's warrant requests. The court said in September 2000 that the FBI came forward to "confess error in some 75 FlSA applications related to major terrorist attacks directed against the United States." More errors turned up later. Word of the FBI's run-ins with the court over misleading warrant requests had leaked out publicly in recent months. Some FBI officials blame the tensions for creating a chilling effect that led the bureau not to seek a warrant in the summer of 2001 against suspected "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui, who was jailed in Minneapolis on an immigration violation. But the full extent of the problem--and the fact that dozens of FBI warrant requests were found to contain errors--had never been disclosed before. Those errors usually centered on misstatements or omissions of facts by the FBI in claiming that criminal prosecutors were not involved in intelligence-gathering operations, the court said in its May opinion. 8/26/02 Page 3 of 3 The documents released Thursday did not cite specific cases by name. The problem became so severe that the court convened a special session in November 2000 to consider "the troubling number of inaccurate FBI affidavits," and one agent was barred from appearing before the FlSA court to present warrant requests, the court said. Justice Department officials have been investigating the false claims by FBI officials for more than a year, but "how these misrepresentations occurred remains unexplained to the court," wrote U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, then the presiding judge of the FlSA court, in the May 17 opinion. Top officials of the Justice Department said they were gravely concerned about the FlSA court's decision to scale back Ashcreft's March regulations. Even though the secret decision was issued by the court as a whole in May, Justice lawyers spent months determining how to appeal, and finding a specific case to appeal, before filing the paperwork Thursday. "1 can't overstate the delicacy of this, the difficulty of this, the significance of this," said the senior Justice Department official. "We don't want to tank the FlSA program. We don't want to mess up our relations with the FlSA coud." A Blow to Law Is Seen Justice officials said the May ruling did not force them to stop conducting any particular investigations, but rather that it prevented them from implementing key provisions of the Patriot Act. "It's like we got nowhere with the [implementation of] the Patriot Act, and were not able to coordinate things like we wanted to and needed to," the official said. Justice Department officials also stressed that the 75 cases cited in the May ruling occurred before President Bush took office, and said that the problems were corrected by a succession of legal reforms within the department over the last two years. They cited a speech given last year in which Lamberth credited Ashcroft for ensuring that all FlSA applications were "well scrubbed" and free of inaccuracies that had plagued earlier applications. "The process is working," Lamberth said in the speech. "A lot of the old problems had been remedied," Comstock said. 8/26/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 11:27 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Cah Stun Belt Use in Court is Curtailed http://www,!atimes.com/news/Iocal/la-me-stu n23a ug23,story?co!!=!a%2Dhead!ines%2Dca!ifom!a Stun Belt Use in Court Is Curtailed Ruling: The devices can only be deployed if no better alternative is available, the state high court decides. Risk of accidents is cited. By MAURA DOLAN LA TIMES STAFF WRITER August 23 2002 SAN FRANCISCO -- Stun belts, which discharge debilitating electric shocks, should no longer be strapped to defendants in courtrooms unless there are no less onerous alternatives, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a broad opinion by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, the court made it difficult, if not impossible, for judges to order defendants to wear the security belts while testifying during criminal trials. The belts, designed to control troublesome defendants with an eight-second, 50,000-volt electric shock, are strapped under clothing and operated remotely by a law enforcement officer or judge. The shock knocks the wearer to the ground, causes intense writhing and shaking, and may result in uncontrolled defecation and urination as well as serious medical injury, the court said. On a 6-1 vote, the court overturned the assault conviction of a defendant who was required to wear a belt while testifying. "In view of the nature of a stun belt and the debilitating and humiliating consequences that such a belt can inflict," George wrote for the court, "it is reasonable to believe that many if not most persons would experience an increase in anxiety if compelled to wear such a belt while testifying at trial." The belts are widely used in courtrooms in most states, and in the transportation of prisoners. Amnesty International has described them as instruments of torture and called for a ban. Some courts have recently limited their use. The Indiana Supreme Court has barred them altogether. A defense lawyer in Thursday's case praised the ruling. But the lone dissenting justice warned that it would imperil judges and jurors who must be near dangerous defendants, and a prosecutor complained that it will deprive courts of a safe, useful security device. The ruling is close to an outright ban, said Deputy Atty. Gen. David A. Rhodes, who represented the prosecution before the court. "A very effective security tool here has just been put too far out of reach." Appellate courts in recent years have tended to view stun belts as the security device of choice, an assumption that Thursday's ruling called questionable and unwarranted, In fact, the state high court compared the forced use of a stun belt in court to the forced administration of antipsychotic medication during a trial. 'More User-Friendly' The court said stun belts have accidentally discharged at least twice in California courtrooms and the potential for such accidents "provides a stron9 reason to proceed with great caution in approving the use of this device." A spokesman for the manufacturer said the belt has been worn more than 65,000 times in the United States and has never caused a death. There have been only nine accidental discharges, he said. 8/26/02 Page 2 of 3 "We introduced them in 1993, and they just took off," said Dennis Kaufman, a consultant for Electronic Defense Technology, based in Ohio. He said the company now makes devices that are "more user-friendly" and can be worn around the wrist or ankle. They emit the same jolt of electricity as the beets, he said. Thursday's ruling requires judges to consider several factors before ordering use of a belt, including the potential for accidental activation, psychological effects that may impair a defendant's ability to concentrate and serious medical risks for individuals with a variety of medical conditions. A defendant is not a candidate for a stun belt or any physical restraint unless it has been shown that there is a manifest need for such a device. Such a need would be demonstrated if it were shown that the defendant was likely to try to escape or assault someone in the court, the court ruled. Before ordering a stun belt, the judge must review the defendant's medical history and order a medical examination to ensure that the device would not be unduly dangerous. A defendant who is asked to express a preference about a restraint should be warned about the possibility of accidental discharge, the state high court said. Finally, the trial judge would have to determine whether the stun belt is the least restrictive way to ensure courtroom security. In deciding this, judges should consider "whether there is adequate justification for the current design of the belt" as opposed to a device that would deliver a lesser, briefer shock, the court said. "Particularly in view of the number of accidental activations, we conclude that a trial court should not approve the use of this type of stun belt as an alternative to more traditional physical restraints if the court finds that these features render the device more onerous than necessary to satisfy the court's security needs," George wrote in People vs. Mar, S086611. The ruling came in the case of James Allen Mar, a Santa Barbara County man who was found guilty of resisting and injuring a peace officer while being moved from a holding cell during an arrest for a parole violation. Mar's lawyer told the judge the belt was "making him very, very nervous and agitated" and asked that it be removed while he testified. "He is afraid somebody's going to push the button," the defense lawyer said. The judge ruled that Mar should wear the device, observing that the "belt is his best insurance that he will come across with self-control." Mar testified, becoming excited and speaking rapidly at various points. In response to a question from his lawyer, he said he was very nervous. The belt'was never activated. Under the state's three-strikes law, Mar was sentenced to 26 years to life because he had committed felonies in the past. In overturning Mar's most recent conviction, the state high court cited the closeness of the evidence in the case, the crucial nature of Mat's demeanor while testifying and the likelihood the belt affected his composure on the stand. The ruling noted that security officers who placed the stun belt on Mar failed to demonstrate that it was needed, and the judge failed to require such a showing. In a dissent, Justice Janice Rogers Brown lambasted the majority for relying on information about stun belts obtained on the Internet, details that were not debated at trial. She said the court could have deferred the issue to the Legislature. "Instead, the majority, rushing to judgment after conducting an embarrassing Google.com search for information outside the record, has tied the hands of the Legislature, to the likely peril of judges, bailiffs and ordinary citizens called up to do their civic duty," Brown wrote. Lawyers in the case said alternatives to stun belts include leg and hand restraints that can be hidden, or by seating a defendant on the witness stand before the jury enters. Advocates of stun belts contend that the devices are useful because jurors have no way of knowing that the defendant is being restrained and likely to be dangerous. Stun belts may now be reserved for defendants who prefer them to other restraints. National Impact 8/26/02 Page 3 of 3 "The California Supreme Court's decision has ensured that courtrooms will be safer, more dignified forums for the administration of justice," said Carlo Andreani, who represented Mar on appeal. He said Mar will be retried or the defense will reach an agreement on a plea with the prosecution. Paul Hoffman, former chairman of Amnesty International in the United States, said rulings such as Thursday's may lead to the demise of stun belts nationally. "If the California courts are in the forefront of condemning this kind of use, that is something that should have persuasive effect in other parts of the country," said Hoffman, a lawyer. But Kaufman, the spokesman for the manufacturer, said stun belts can prevent violence. "If I took a pencil and stuck it in your arm, that could be an instrument of torture," Kaufman said. "If it is used the way it is supposed to be, it is not a device of torture," he said. 8/26/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: NYTimes.com [newstracker@nytimes.com] Monday, August 26, 2002 4:52 AM suelqq@aol.com Times News Tracker: Police Conduct (1 article) News Tracker Alert: Police Conduct Mon Aug 26 05:42:06 2002 August 26, 2002 National: DNA Did Not NYT By JODI WILGOREN The exoneration of a man who had been convicted of murder in Michigan highlights a growing concern over false confessions and the coercion of suspects. Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/O8/26/national/26DNA.html?tntemaill / .................... advertisement ....................... Try Premium Crosswords free for 30 days. Since one crossword puzzle a day is seldom enough, NYTimes.com offers you unlimited access to over 2,000 Premium Crosswords, including both Sunday puzzles from the Magazine and our acrostic puzzle FREE for 30 days. Click here to start your free trial. http://www.nytimes.com/ads/marketing/freepuzzlemonth/ Receive 50% Off Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Click here: http://secure-h~mede~ivery.nytimes.c~m/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppL~gic%2bFTc~ntentserver? pagename user/ContentMgt/PromoFeature/PromoFeatureT1P&ExternalMediaCode=W52AR HOW TO MANAGE YOUR ALERT You can manage your alert in several ways. You can edit your alert to improve its acuracy, or change the delivery schedule. You can turn it off for a period of time if you are going on vacation, or you can delete it altogether. You can also create a new alert. Visit the alert management page: http://www.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?module-manage Click here to change your e-mail address or sign up for other newsletters: http://www.nytimes.com/email HOW TO ADVERTISE For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our o~line media kit: http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo/ please Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Thursday, August 29, 2002 8:00 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] NYTimes Editorial: Investigative Excesses in Iowa This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by hector.w.soto@phila.gov. Investigative Excesses in Iowa August 29, 2002 After a dead infant's body was discovered in an Iowa recycling center in May, local investigators issued subpoenas for the names of women who had visited local hospitals and clinics for pregnancy tests in the previous nine months. Some complied, but a Planned Parenthood clinic in the town of Storm Lake is battling the subpoena, arguing that its clients have a right to confidentiality. The resulting legal battle is fraught with emotion and complications, but on balance the clinic is right to oppose such overly broad and intrusive efforts by investigators. The murder was particularly grisly. The baby's body had been dismembered, and authorities in Buena Vista County in Iowa are understandably determined to do a thorough investigation. But crimes that create public revulsion are the most important tests of authorities' willingness to abide by the limits of the Constitution. Officials must be particularly careful to avoid invading the privacy of large numbers of people just because those people share an attribute with the possible culprit. If the suspect were a member of an ethnic minority, for example, hauling in all people of that ethnic background would clearly violate those people's rights. Officials at Planned Parenthood say that if the prosecutors had come to them with a specific suspect, the clinic would readily have cooperated by sharing information. But the investigators had no reason to tie the murder to any clinic user - only a desire to leave no stone unturned. To make use of the Planned Parenthood records, investigators would then have to check out each name, perhaps visiting each pregnant woman and asking if she had had her baby - and if not, why not. Doing so would undermine the confidential environment vital to the clinic's operations. Prosecutors have an obligation to develop a more specific set of targets rather than casting such a wide net. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/OS/29/opinion/29THU2.html?ex-lO31624868&ei-1 &en=bfbc9ab072f62a7d 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 onlinesales{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. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update nacole.org More time granted for overseer applicants SPORTS Bearcats Bengals High School Reds Xavier PERSPECTIVE Jim Borgman Columnists Photographers ENTERTAINMENT Movies Dining Horoscopes Lottery Results Local Events Video Games ClNClNNATI.COM Giveaways Maps/Directions Send an E-Postcard Coupons Visitor's Guide CLASSIFIEDS Jobs Cars Homes Obituaries General Place an ad Page 1 of 4 SPORTS BUSINESS TEMPO ENTERTAINMENT CLASSIFIED ARCHIVE SE Friday, August 30, 2002 More time granted for overseer applicants City wants more choices By Robert Anglen, ranglen@enquirer, com The Cincinnati Enquirer An international security expert, a former FBI agent, a former police chief, an investigator for the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board and a local television reporter want the job of overseeing Cincinnati's new system for investigating and tracking citizen complaints against police officers. But despite 27 applications from four states, city officials said Thursday that they will extend the hiring deadline for the post of executive director of the Citizen Complaint Authority. They say that is the only way to avoid a conflict with members of the Black United Front and Cincinnati's police union over how the applications were solicited and who will ultimately be selected to oversee reforms required by the U.S. Department of Justice in its legal settlement with the city. '1 don't think there was dispute," City Manager Valerie Lemmie said. "There was concern that they are partners, and we were going in one direction because we weren't talking to them. To the extent we err, I want to make sure we err on the side of everybody feeling comfortable." The Black United Front, the city, the police union and the Department of Justice are partners in two landmark legal settlements that ended a federal probe of the Police Department and suspended a class-action lawsuit against the city by African-Americans who alleged years of racial profiling and discrimination by police officers. HELP Feedback Subscribe Search Survey According to the Justice Department agreement, the new complaint authority was supposed to replace the city's Office of Municipal Investigations on Aug. 9. OMI is the only independent investigative agency of citizen complaints against police officers. But Ken Lawson, lawyer for the Black United Front, said the delay makes sense -- and is an encouraging sign. "It shows that (the city) is concerned with the whole Updated Every 30 Mi AP TOP HEADLINE NEWS · Iraq Ready to Discuss U.N. Inspectors · Israeli Court OKs Expulsions · S. KoreaXyphoon Kills 113 Peo · Villa§er~ S_q.spected in Indonesi · Congress Returns to Difficu!~ !~ · TokyoStocks Finish at 19-Year · Strahan to~=|l~iah Career With NATIONAL NEWS · Conaress Returns to...H_0meland Issues · Tornado Ravaaes Sr~!!Wiscor Town · Experts Try to_Ease W. Nile Fea · TrialofFla. Boys Set to Begin · Study; Charter Students Score Poorly · Two More Arrests Made in Kidnapping · Man Charged in Oregon Nun's Murder WORLD NEWS · Lraq_.R_ead~v to Discuss Inseecto · Israeli Court Approves Expulsk · Negotiators Finish Summit Plar · B/Jssia Tells Iraa to OK · Swede~Q ~old SusDeCted Hiia · S, Korea Typh~o~ Kills 113 Pec · Joint Delegation HeAd~ t~hec BUSINESS NEWS · Lower Oeen Predicted on Wall Street · Tokyo Stocks Close at 19rYear · Roche Sells Vitamins DJyisioo t DSM · Oil Summit Discusses Envirqpr SPORTS NEWS · Dodgers PounJJ Diamondbacks http://enquirer.com/editions/2OO2/O8/30/loc_more time granted.html 9/3/02 More time granted for overseer applicants process being fair," he said. "It could have been another argument back and forth." Unfamiliar with any of the 27 applicants, Mr. Lawson said he wants the process to be more inclusive. He wants to expand advertising and draw from a wider pool of candidates. "It needs to be more inclusive of the African-American community and the whole community," he said. "There are different ways to get the word out." Ms. Lemmie agreed. "We know we didn't advertise in more routine places," she said. "Did you see where it was advertised? Neither did I. We don't want it to appear the city is steering or directing this." Applications for the job were originally due Friday. Ms. Lemmie did not know how much longer the application process would be extended, but she said there is no need for anyone to reapply. The job, which pays $86,952 to $117,385, involves supervising all investigations of citizen complaints that allege excessive force, improper pointing of guns, unreasonable searches and discrimination by Cincinnati police officers. It also includes supervising all investigations of shots fired by police or deaths in police custody. Applicants are asked to have paid experience in investigating police misconduct cases and two years of administrative and supervisory experience. The list of qualifications asks for a bachelor's degree in criminal justice or a related field, and says a law degree is preferred. WCPO-TV reporter Laure Quinlivan, who applied for the job, said in her letter that her experience as "a nationally recognized investigative reporter" has prepared her to oversee the city's new complaint system. Ms. Quinlivan, who did not return calls Thursday, has a bachelor's degree in communication. Besides Ms. Quinlivan, only two other applicants do not have an extensive law enforcement or legal background. The other 24 applicants have had careers in law enforcement or degrees in criminology, or are lawyers. Both the current and former acting directors of the Office of Municipal Investigation have applied. Mark Gissiner, who took over the office in 2001, assisted in writing the procedures for the new Citizens Complaint Authority for the landmark settlements. Carl Stoll, an investigative manager for the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, supervises investigations into allegations of excessive force and abuse Page 2 of 4 · Streaking A's GelLl~JLh..~treJghl · Southern Cai Nios Auburn 24-1' · Hurri~aoes Reclaim Top of AP r · Strahan to Finish Cereer With G · U~S, Beats Russia, Awaits Arge http://enquirer.com/editions/2OO2/O8/30/loc_more_time_granted.html 9/3/02 More time granted for overseer applicants of authority alleged against New York City police officers. His resume states that he served for four years as the department advocate for the Chicago Police Department. Black United Front lawyer Al Gerhardstein says the desire to expand the pool of applicants is not a reflection on those who responded to the city's initial ad. "I'm not looking to cast any of this in a negative light," he said. "Obviously, we did not want the city to go forward unilaterally." Page 3 of 4 E-mails uncover political squabble E-mails show Luken's and Portune's differences Report ~ays air in Ohio among worst in nation W. Chester officials try to shut out adult shops West Nile find doubles search Add Mason to list of mall sites Coalition attacks bill backing charter schools Labor Day travel looks thinner Ligb~ r~i! factions squadng Cf ~ More time granted for overseer applicants Obituary: Bud Weast admired for caring and ethics Oldenburg Academy rich in charm, tradition Tenants' views not well received by magistrate Tristate A:M. Report When to test for West Nile uncertain Workers drill row after row for posts BRONSON: Spin cy~!~ HOWARD: Some Good News SMITH AMOS: Lincoln Hts. reunion Airport named for Hogans Butler Co. parks district wants transfer-fee increase Clermont water tower is approved Prison workers fear uprising Cash-strapped Hagan runs campaign ad on Internet Congresswoman sought help for husband's firm Florence Y'all fest lasts all weekend Insurance scam gets man 5 years Lucas' fast-track view praised N.Ky. in high gear after first W, Nile sign Report: Gas main was left on Schools tack!~ bullying Toss out ice cream from church festival Sep. 3,2002 ENQUIRER HOME LOCAL SPORTS BUSINESS TEMPO ENTERTAINMENT CLASSIFIED ARCHIVE SE Search our site by keyword: ~ Search also: News I Jobs I Homes I Cars I Classifieds I Obits J Couoons I Events I Dining Search I Ouestiqns/he!p I News tips I Letters to the editors I Subscribe Newspaper advertising I Web advertisino I Place a classified I Circulation http://enquirer.com/editions/2OO2/O8/30/loc_more_time_granted.html 9/3/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: AOLNews@aol.com Tuesday, September 03, 2002 3:09 PM undisclosed-recipients Denver Police Open 'Spy Files' Denver Police Open 'Spy Files' DENVER (AP) - The Police Department opened 3,200 ''spy files'' on religious, peace and other groups on Tuesday, and activists lined up to see if their names were included For the full text of this story, <A HREF="aol://4344:30.LHOAleDv.345642.715550831">click here</A>. To edit your profile, go to keyword <A HREF "aol://1722:NewsProfiles">NewsProfiles</A>. For all of today's news, go to keyword <A HREF "aol://1722:News">News</A>. Marian Karr Page 1 of 4 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 11:48 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Issues Re: Use of Digital Photos in Police Investigations September 3, 2002 NY Times Digital Photos Give the Police a New Edge in Abuse Cases SARAH KERSHAW : ihe New York City Police Department, which handles about 90,000 domestic violence cases annually -- roughly a third of which lead to arrests and enter the courts -- is starting to gather evidence using digital photography, a tool that experts say could drastically reshape the way these cases are prosecuted. Domestic violence is among the most complex crime to prosecute, because the cases often pit the victim's word against the batterer's or make their way into court with no cooperation from the victim and little evidence. Photographs of bruises or broken furniture, if taken at all, are usually shot with Polaroid cameras. Those snapshots, which are often blurry and fail to make the injuries visible, can take days or even weeks to reach the courts. But with digital photography, evidence that has been practically impossible to gather quickly or gather at all -- clear and detailed images of injuries like swollen eyes, bruised cheeks and handprints around the neck -- can be transmitted by computer to prosecutors and judges at the earliest stages of a case. That way, a judge can have evidence in hand at the arraignment, even before the suspect is charged and before a judge decides whether to grant bail or issue an order of protection to safeguard the victim. "This is a major, major change," said Robyn Mazur, associate director of domestic violence programs at the Center for Court Innovation, a public-private partnership in New York that acts as the research and development arm of New York State's court system. "By having these pictures instantaneously go directly to the key players, cases can potentially move much faster in those very early precious days." Although digital photography is widely used by the public, law enforcement agencies have only recently started to use it in domestic violence cases, and for the most part in small cities like Boulder, Colo., and Largo, Fla. New York is the first major city to adopt the technology throughout its police department, according to the Center for Court Innovation -- a move likely to encourage other cities to do the same. Many police departments around the country, including New York's, use digital cameras to take fingerprints or mug shots, but they do not generally have the technology to transmit those photographs to prosecutors and the courts. Experts say the reasons are partly financial -- the computer systems needed to send photos require an investment -- and partly a result of the justice system's slowness to take on new technology. "Many courts are facing technology issues," Ms. Mazur said. "That's what is so creative about what New York is doing." 9/4/02 Page 2 of 4 A year ago, police and prosecutors in Queens began experimenting with digital photography in domestic violence cases. The technology will soon be in place across the rest of the city, starting with Brooklyn next month, officials said. The new advances have drawn criticism -- from those who worry that digital photographs are too easily manipulated, and from others who fear it will give prosecutors more license to pursue a case against the wishes of the victim. Physical evidence like photographs is particularly crucial to prosecutors in domestic abuse cases, because victims often decide not to press charges and may even testify on behalf of a defendant in court. But prosecutors in Queens say the innovation is helping victims. Since all 16 police precincts in the borough began using digital photography, sending the photographs straight into prosecutors' computers, convictions in domestic abuse cases have risen sharply and dismissals have plummeted, according to the Queens district attorney's office. "The use of digital photography has had a critical impact," said the district attorney, Richard A. Brown, who said that as a judge in Brooklyn years ago, he often arraigned accused abusers with little or no physical evidence before him. "This makes it impossible for the defendant to deny the seriousness of the crime." Within the next few months, the Police Department also plans to begin using digital 911 tapes, transmitting by computer the recordings of emergency telephone calls from victims and others. The technology will be used for all types of crimes, not just domestic violence cases, officials said. The tapes of 911 calls are another critical piece of evidence that can take up to 90 days to travel through the bureaucracy and into the courtroom Although no major legal challenges have been mounted to the use of digital photos in domestic violence cases, some people are questioning their admissibility in court because they can be doctored, enhanced or manipulated on a computer. "There are serious concerns," said Susan L. Hendricks, deputy attorney in charge of the criminal defense division of the Legal Aid Society, the main public defender in New York. "1 would be shocked if the result is that they are never admitted as evidence," she went on, "but I think that given the ability to manipulate them, the courts are going to have to be careful, or they should be." Many prosecutors say that they think the photographs will withstand challenges, and that it is easy to tell if a photograph has been altered. They say the use of Polaroid snapshots, standard practice for gathering evidence of injuries in New York and elsewhere, is problematic. Often all but the most serious injuries are unrecognizable, they say, especially if the victim has a dark complexion. And because of the time and paperwork required to get a photograph -- like any piece of evidence -- from the police to prosecutors, those snapshots often do not make it to court in time for arraignment, which is typically held within 24 hours of an arrest. In a recent case in Queens, Felix Rondon, 31, was accused of biting the face and ear of his girlfriend, 21. Before digital photography, the judge handling the arraignment would have relied on a verbal description of the woman's injuries from a police officer or detective. In this case, 20 digital photographs taken of the woman at the hospital showed deep, bloody wounds 9/4/02 Page 3 of 4 across her face and ears and a potentially permanent injury to her left eye. They were sent by computer to prosecutors and then submitted to the judge as evidence at the arraignment. Mr. Rondon, who ran a car service and lived in South Ozone Park, was arraigned -- and later indicted -- on a charge of attempted murder in the second degree, as well as on assault charges. The judge ordered him held without bail. Prosecutors said that without the digital photographs, they might have sought only the lesser assault charges and that bail may have been granted. (If he is convicted of the more serious charge, Mr. Rondon could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. Mr. Rondon pleaded not guilty at his arraignment; his lawyer was on vacation this weekend and could not be reached.) "Without the photographs, all you have is a person biting another individual," said Scott E. Kessler, who is the domestic violence bureau chief for the Queens district attorney and who helped lead the drive to use digital photography there. "The extent of the biting -- that it was a person trying to kill another person -- is really only shown in those photographs." The Queens district attorney handles 4,500 domestic violence cases annually, and prosecutors say the digital photographs have had a significant impact at every point, from bail to arraignment to conviction. Queens began using digital photography in the spring of 2001, and convictions -- the easiest statistic to measure -- rose swiftly, to 60.9 percent from 51.7 percent during the first six months the photographs were used. In 1997, the Queens district attorney received a federal grant of more than $3 million over four years. The money is paying for additional staffing, technology and other improvements to its domestic violence bureau. Since 1997, the bureau has more than doubled its conviction rates and in 2001, reported a 25 percent dismissal rate in domestic violence cases, compared with 50 percent in the rest of the city, Mr. Brown said. Because digital photography makes it easier for prosecutors to move a case forward without a victim's consent, it is fanning a long-brewing debate over the role of victims in prosecuting their abusers. Prosecutors around the country have embraced an increasingly common approach known as evidence-based or mandatory prosecution: They pursue accused abusers whether or not the victim participates in the prosecution. Critics of mandatory prosecution say digital photography may give law enforcement agencies more license to disregard the wishes of victims who change their minds after calling the police. "We need to encourage a dialogue, not discourage it with these mechanisms that trump a victim's voice," said Linda G. Mills, a professor at New York University's Ehrenkranz School of Social Work, who is working on her second book about domestic violence and the law. "If they have a photograph, the prosecutors can just sit down, throw it on the table and say, 'Either you are with us or you aren't,' and it doesn't matter what the woman wants." Professor Mills also predicted that by making stronger cases against accused batterers, digital photography might discourage some victims from coming forward. "This kind of thing sends women underground," Professor Mills said. "There's no turning back. When women call the police, they want the violence to stop, they don't necessarily want their husband to go to prison." 9/4/02 Page 4 of 4 But some advocates for domestic violence victims disagreed, and said the digital photographs were powerful tools they could use to help keep a victim safe. One way might be showing a victim photographs weeks or months after an incident as a reminder of the ordeal. "It has been really beneficial in terms of letting the victim see herself," said Rita Asen, director of the Queens Criminal and Supreme Court counseling program for Safe Horizon, a citywide advocacy group that, among other services, assigns court counselors to victims. "We think this makes victims more willing to go ahead and cooperate." Whether the victims cooperate or not, the police are eager to use their new tool. "We cannot wait," said Lucia Davis-Raiford, director of the New York Police Department's domestic violence unit. "The power of the photograph is very strong." 9/4/02 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Wednesday, September 04, 2002 10:17 AM update@nacole.org [NACOLE Update] NYTimes.com Article: The Truth About Confessions This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by hector.w.soto@phila.gov. The Truth About Confessions September 1, 2002 By PETER BROOKS NEW HAVEN - How many people over the centuries have been executed or spent life in prison on the basis of a false confession? Eddie Joe Lloyd of Detroit, who in 1984 confessed to the gruesome rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, was freed from prison last week because DNA testing proved that he was innocent. He had spent 17 years behind bars. The idea that one can confess to a crime one didn't commit seems bizarre. Confession is the most personal of statements. It is supposed to express the intimate truth of the individual, to reveal his lived experience and "inner dispositions," as Rousseau put it in his "Confessions." This truth, these dispositions, are obscure, shifting, illusive; most confessions are laden with unintended meanings. In a legal context, a confession has for centuries been considered the "queen of proofs," the most probative evidence one can have. And when courts in the United States have a signed confession from a suspect, they rarely question it. It's enough to convict, or to arrange a plea bargain without further ado. And yet it's clear that people do make false confessions. The use of DNA testing by groups like the Innocence Project has now exonerated 110 convicted felons, a number of whom gave false confessions. Other false confessions have been exposed by vigorous lawyering and the work of psychologists. There is no way to guess how many convictions in the past were based on false confessions. Eddie Joe Lloyd was in a mental hospital at the time he was interrogated by the police. A number of the false confessions that have been brought to light come from persons with mental disturbances, with iow I.Q. levels, or from minors. But it would be wrong to conclude that only those not wholly in command of their faculties make false confessions. The range of normal psychological functioning is broad, and it includes many persons who can be made to confess to things they didn't do. The human psyche is a fragile and still mysterious thing; subject to certain pressures, it can crack. How can one make a false confession, absent torture or other physical abuse? Perhaps because the falseness of the "facts" confessed to has less importance during the interrogation than the need to confess in order to propitiate your interrogators. They have locked you in a room, and they tell you the only key to your release is your confession. They claim to know you are guilty, and want merely to seek confirmation of how you did the crime. They tell you things will go more easily for you if you confess. Interrogators understand that their main obstacle is a suspect's silence. If they can convince the suspect to talk, once he begins there's a good chance they can shape his story. In most human beings there are more than enough guilty feelings to go around, and pressures to confess those feelings. Confessions speak of guilt, but they don't necessarily name the guilt, the relevant crime. Suspects who confess falsely accept the story told by their interrogators because they have lost confidence in their own recollections or reached such despair that they will say anything to make the questioning stop. As the psychoanalyst Theodore Reik noted in "The Compulsion to Confess," confession is often not an end in itself, but rather the means of an appeal to parents or authority figures for absolution and affection. Police interrogators are authority figures with a vengeance. They can use the consolatory model of religious confession, implying that absolution will come from making a clean breast of things, leading to a reintegration with the community from which the suspect is now wholly severed. Courts have played along, permitting them to use all sorts of ruses, including outright lies - claiming "proof" of guilt from fabricated polygraph tests, false eyewitness reports, false findings of fingerprints, hair, blood or semen at the crime scene. Even the Miranda warnings, designed to inform the suspect of the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney, have not prevented false confessions. An estimated three-quarters of suspects waive these rights, thinking they can talk their way out of their jam. Most suspects are poor, often marginally literate, almost always terrified of the police. Their sense of "rights" in the face of authority can be minimal. Some even seem to assume that, one way or another, they will do jail time. At times a false confession may simply look like a way to hasten what seems to be a predetermined end. The impulse to confess is human, and in a state of dependency and abjection, it is not implausible that we might say what we know our listeners want to hear. Peter Brooks, author of ''Troubling Confessions: Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature,'' teaches comparative literature at Yale. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/og/O1/opinion/O1BROO.html?ex=lO32147028&ei=l&en= 94a7923bb665825e Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company 2 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Pierce Murphy [LPMurphy@cityofboise.org] Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 10:40 AM To: Update@NACOLE,org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Reno Reconsidering Earlier Decision On Police Oversight Reno Gazette-Journal, September 3, 2002: Poll: Majority favor police oversight panel By Elaine Goodman RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL A majority of Reno voters surveyed said they either favor or strongly favor a citizen panel to oversee police misconduct allegation cases, according to a new poll. But some city officials questioned whether the results were influenced by two highly publicized out-of-state incidents in July of alleged police brutality. "I believe timing is a big part of it," Reno police Deputy Chief Ondra Berry said. The city of Reno has been studying whether to form a citizens review panel. When asked whether they would favor or oppose the city appointing a citizen panel to oversee police misconduct allegation cases, 49 percent of respondents voiced support An additional 6 percent strongly favored the idea of an oversight panel. Thirty-five percent opposed the panel, Four percent were strongly opposed and 6 percent weren't sure. More than 400 Reno voters were surveyed in the Reno Gazette-Journal/News 4 poll. The poll has a margin of error of 5 percent. The telephone survey was conducted July 18-19 and July 22-24. Earlier in July, a white police officer in Inglewood, Calif., was videotaped slamming a black teenager onto a car and punching him. Also in July, authorities in Oklahoma City asked the FBI to look into the actions of two officers there who were videotaped striking an unarmed black suspect 27 times with tactical batons. Del Ali, the head of Rockville, Md.-based Research 2000, which conducted the polls, agreed with Berry that the Inglewood and Oklahoma City incidents might have increased support for a citizen oversight panel. 9/4/02 "You've got a majority that favor the panel," Ali said. "I don't think it's a knock on the police, but that an advisory panel might not be such a bad idea." The issue of citizen oversight of Reno police was studied for 10 months during the past year by a City Council-appointed panel, which was formed after a black man and his wife complained police violated their civil rights in February 2001 when they were stopped at the Keystone Square Shopping Center. In a report to the council in June, most committee members said citizen oversight of police is not needed because of the small number of complaints against officers. But at the request of the council, the committee has re-examined the possibility of a civilian board to monitor complaints. The panel will recommend that the city's ombudsman position be modified to include part-time oversight of police, committee chairwoman Sharon Zadra said. Zadra said she's not sure why the concept of civilian oversight got such strong support in last month's survey. About 60 people contacted the panel during the 10 months it met. "I don't know how to make an assessment there," said Zadra, who is running for the council in Ward 2. Berry also said the survey results don't seem to fit with the sparse attendance at meetings of the oversight committee but added that the panel proposal was studied thoroughly. "They encouraged citizens to come and had minimal turnout," he said. Gender had little effect on support for an oversight panel, with 53 percent of men surveyed and 57 percent of women in favor or strongly in favor. Sixty percent of Democrats support an oversight panel compared to 49 percent of Republicans surveyed. Support for police oversight is less among older voters, with 48 percent of respondents 45 to 59 years old in favor compared with 61 percent of voters 30 to 44. Ali said the results fit with a general trend that older voters are more conservative. "Among younger people, there's less conformity," Ali said. Results were not analyzed by race. Ken Robinson of Reno supports a police oversight committee. "There's good cops and there's bad cops," said Robinson, a Page 2 of 3 9/4/02 47-year-old butcher. "Some of them get out of line." But Reno resident Guadalupe Perez said the city should hire more officers rather than appoint an oversight committee. "They do a good job, but they need more officers," the 39-year-old cashier said. Copyright © 2002 The Reno Gazette-Journal Page 3 of 3 9/4/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 3:57 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Who's In the Running for LAPD Job: Insiders May Have LATimes 9-4-02 Insiders May Have an Edge for LAPD Job ~ Police: The criteria for picking a new chief favor applicants familiar with the department. But that could be offset by proven track record elsewhere. By TINA DAUNT, TIMES STAFF WRITER When the Los Angeles Police Commission today begins interviewing 13 police chief candidates, it will apply guidelines that favor applicants who know the inner workings of the LAPD and can show an emotional connection to the city. It is not enough to be a good crime fighter and leader under the selection criteria developed for the commission by a citizens committee. Commissioners say they want a chief who appreciates Los Angeles' diversity, and has the skills to overhaul the department while navigating a treacherous political terrain. Those requirements would seem to give an edge to the eight applicants who have worked in the Los Angeles Police Department. Still, officials say, East Coast candidates such as William Bratton and John Timoney, both veterans of the New York Police Department, could make up for their lack of local experience with their proven track records in big-city police departments. "There is an advantage from being from within [the LAPD]," said Police Commission President Rick Caruso. "You understand the history of it, you understand how it operates. The downside is you might not have the experience of turning something around because you've never been given the opportunity. That is what we ultimately have to balance." In the end, the choice will rest with Mayor James K. Hahn, who said in an interview this week that LAPD experience is just one measure he will apply in selecting the person to replace Bernard C. Parks, who was denied a second five-year term by the Police Commission in April. The mayor said he is looking for four things: someone who can lower the crime rate, reform the department, motivate the rank and file and strengthen community-policing efforts. "We are not saying it is an absolute that someone has to be from the inside," Hahn said. "That was certainly a strong sentiment of the people who were on the citizens committee. But at the end of the day, we want the best person, regardless of what their background is." Meeting in a private suite in a Wes[wood high-rise, the Police Commission will be guided in its interviews by a 31-page report prepared by the citizens committee. The five-member commission wants to submit a list of three finalists to Hahn by the end of the month. Under the City Charter, the mayor is charged with selecting the chief from the list of three. Hahn is certain to come under some political pressure as he makes his decision, but so far there has been no organized public lobbying for candidates of a particular race or gender. He will make his choice in the face of lingering anger, particularly in the black community, over his refusal to reappoint Parks, and at a time when the San Femando Valley and Hollywood are contemplating breaking away to form their own cities. The LAPD veterans have a wide range of experience, some strong in the area of community policing and others in training and recruitment. Asst. Chief David Gascon is the highest-ranking LAPD official up for the job. With 32 years on the force, he is best known for his prominent role as the department's spokesman during the O.J. Simpson murder case. He's the one who told the city that Simpson was on the run. Gascon was a finalist for the chief's position five years ago. He may be at a disadvantage, however, because of his strong ties to Parks' administration. Also under consideration is Deputy Chief Margaret A. York, who is in charge of all department operations in downtown Los Angeles and has 33 years on the force. York, the first woman in the history of the LAPD to reach the rank of deputy 9/4/02 Page 2 of 3 chief, once served as head of Internal Affairs. That job provided insight into the problems and culture of the LAPD, but also may have put her at odds with rank-and-file officers who were charged with misconduct. Another woman up for the job is Cmdr. Sharon Papa, who was head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department until it merged with the LAPD in 1997. Unlike York, Papa did not rise through the ranks of the LAPD, and may not have the same cachet as someone who spent his or her career with the department. LAPD candidates with strong connections to the community include Deputy Chief David Kalish, who is in charge of the department's Westside operations, and Cmdr. Jim McDonnell, a Medal of Valor winner who is leading the department's efforts to revitalize its senior lead officer program. A Los Angeles native, Kalish joined the LAPD in 1975. Some activists hope he will become the first gay chief of a major police department. Known for being fair and approachable, Kalish is well liked by members of the department and the community. Another insider set to be interviewed is Cmdr. George Gascon (no relation to David Gascon). Gascon, also a Los Angeles native, is in charge of the department's officer training program. He is considered an expert on police use-of-force issues and community policing, and got a high-profile boost when former LAPD officer and crime writer Joseph Wambaugh touted him in a newspaper column. Two other LAPD veterans being considered left the department to head agencies elsewhere. Portland, Ore., Police Chief Mark Kroeker, a deputy chief when he left the LAPD five years ago, headed the San Fernando Valley Division for 2 1/2 years. Some people have speculated that Hahn would be willing to appoint Kreeker to the LAPD's top job in an effort to appease secessionists. Kroeker has come under criticism recently, however, for making disparaging remarks a decade ago about gays--something that could ultimately undermine his candidacy. Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez, meanwhile, held a number of jobs during his tenure in the LAPD. He was in charge of the Hollenbeck Division, headed the department's training efforts and oversaw the Hollywood vice squad. He also served as the Watts field commander during the 1992 riots. The five candidates without LAPD experience will stand on other strengths and connections to the city. Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters, who has spent 31 years in Santa Ana, helped Hahn develop the LAPD's flexible work schedule last year. Arturo Venegas worked for the Fresno Police Department before becoming Sacramento police chief in 1993. He was a finalist for the LAPD job five years ago. Bratton was in charge of the New York Police Department under former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He is widely credited for dramatically cutting the crime rate in New York City. He also was the head of the Boston Police Department and the New York City transit police. Outspoken and dynamic, Bratton has written a book on policing and has appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines. Some City Hall insiders believe that Bratton's huge personality could overshadow the Iow- key Hahn, making the mayor reluctant to give the Boston native the LAPD post. Bratton has spent the last year monitoring the LAPD's progress in implementing a variety of reforms outlined in a federal consent decree. Because of that, he believes he has the inside knowledge it takes to be the city's chief. Timoney, meanwhile, is seen as a more compatible match for Hahn. An Irish immigrant who grew up in poverty in New York City, Timoney is down to earth and affable. He is a career cop with an Irish brogue who worked his way up the ranks of the New York Police Department, becoming one of Bratton's top deputies. Until recently, he was head of the Philadelphia Police Department, where he forged strong ties with the community. With a love for the East Coast, he faces the challenge of proving to Los Angeles officials that he is familiar with the workings of the LAPD and the city. Also, the fact that former Chief Willie L. Williams came from Philadelphia could prove to be a detriment for Timoney. Ronnie Watson, chief of the Cambridge, Mass., Police Department, faces the challenge of showing that he can make the transition from his 270-member department to the LAPD, which has more than 9,000 officers. Los Angeles officials say his candidacy is bolstered by the fact that he spent more than 30 years in the Chicago Police Department. Los Angeles civil rights attorney Connie Rice, who served on the citizens committee that developed the LAPD selection criteria, said she recognizes that there is no perfect candidate for the job. "It would take an action superhere to do everything," she said. "But you need someone who has the leadership abilities 9/4/02 Page 3 of 3 and the know-how to get things done in this city. Most importantly, we need someone to reunite this department. It is in tatters right now." 9/4/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of~ I From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 4:28 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Denver Spy Files Compiled By Police Denver Opens 3200 Spy Files Compiled by Police DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Holding a just-released 18-page file that had been secretly compiled about her by police, activist Barbara Cohen smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Don't I look like a dangerous criminal?" the barely 5-foot tall, 53-year-old gray-haired legal secretary asked. About 200 people crowded the lobby of Police Department headquarters Tuesday after officials opened 3,200 "spy files" on local activists and organizations. City officials have conceded police went too far when they began documenting individuals and groups some three years ago. Mayor Wellington Webb, himself the subject of police surveillance when he was a young activist, has condemned the practice. He said it violated city policy. Many who waited for up to an hour to see their file received papers that still smelled of black marker where police had deleted the names of people linked to them. Some of these files, which were categorized by groups, individuals and incidents, contained inaccurate information, some said. Cohen, who belongs to the group End the Politics of Cruelty, said she is considering a lawsuit after police linked her to a motorcycle group she never heard of. News that religious and peace groups were among those placed under surveillance since about 1999 drew charges of police misconduct, an investigation by a three-judge panel and the decision to let some people see their files before the reports are purged. Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, had a file for speaking at a rally in February 2000, which he insisted he didn't attend. "It sounds like I ran my mouth off at a rally, but I wasn't there," he said. The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was listed as a criminal extremist group by police, according to the ACLU. So was the Chiapas Coalition, which supports the Mayans of the Chiapas state in Mexico where there have been guerrilla uprisings. Amnesty International was listed as a civil disobedience group. Some officers were not properly trained in intelligence gathering and some people and groups may have been misclassified as criminal extremists, said C.L. Harmer, spokeswoman for the Department of Safety, which oversees the police department. The system has been examined by outside auditors and training is underway, she said. Criminal intelligence gathering, however, remains an important police tool, Harmer added. "As we approach 9-11, I think it reaffirms the legitimate use of legitimate criminal files," she said. Records of people not suspected of crimes will be released to those people, then purged after Nov. 1. However, the city attorney's office will keep copies of all files, including those eliminated by police. The names of people or groups considered legitimate targets of surveillance, as determined by an outside auditor, will remain in the files and won't be released. 9/4/02 Marian Karr Page 1 of 3 From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 4:28 PM To: Update@NACOLE.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Pittsburgh 1 Editorial & 2. Rights Coalition: Keep Monitoring Police Editorial: Paring the decree / It's time to decide if progress on police is enough Monday, September 02, 2002Pittsburgh Post-Gazette To the relief of some and the concern of others, the scarlet letter placed on the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police by the federal consent decree between the U.S. Justice Department and the city may soon be substantially lifted. The parties to the decree, now more than five years old, have jointly petitioned U.S. District Court for a change. Is it time? When Pittsburgh became the first major city to enter into such an agreement, public confidence in the police department was at a Iow level, and the city was facing a lawsuit from the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union alleging widespread police misconduct. But times -- and police procedures -- have changed.Although resented by rank-and-file officers, the consent decree spurred sweeping improvements in police policies, training and supervision. Under the leadership of Chief Robed W. McNeilly, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police is a more professional outfit than it was in 1997. In most of its operations, the bureau has been in compliance with the decree for more than the required two years. The consensus on this issue also acknowledges a glaring exception: the Office of Municipal Investigations, the city agency which is mandated by the decree to investigate allegations of police misconduct. OMI has had a chronic backlog of cases, which the city has seemed unable to clear. The independent auditor, James D. Ginger of Texas, has just delivered another stinging criticism of the agency. In the face of this dual reality -- a good job by the Bureau of Police, a poor job by OMI -- the petition to the court asks that the consent decree be lifted from the Bureau of Police, but kept in place for OMI. Moreover, the city agrees to take a number of specific steps to improve the agency's performance -- including a commitment to clear OMl's existing backlog of cases open longer than 120 days by Dec. 31.The problem is that police operations and OMl's duties are interrelated. For one thing, it is hard to maintain a professionally managed force without a reliable way to judge allegations made against individual officers. In February, this newspaper -- anticipating the move to lift the decree for the Police Bureau but not for OMI -- said: "We're not sure you can sever one from the other."ln June, further examining the question of whether partial compliance might be good enough to allow a change, we said that the "Justice Department needs to make certain that any plan for lifting the decree includes provisions for ensuring the Police Bureau's ongoing compliance. It also must make clear what happens if OMI doesn't make good on its pledge to comply with all provisions within a specified period."These concerns remain with us. To be fair, although the petition isn't specifically reassuring on these points, the city does commit to continuing the policies initiated by the decree. Moreover, the emphasis on OMI cleaning up its act has strong appeal. In the end, it's a judgment call and it falls to U.S. District Judge Robert Cindrich to make it. Helpfully, the judge has scheduled a hearing on Sept. 13 at which various viewpoints on the petition can be heard. That may clarify whether the time is ripe to give the city and its police some relief-- a position that we are leaning toward, despite our concerns. Rights coalition: Keep monitoring police Wednesday, September 04, 2002By Torsten Ove, Post-Gazette Staff Writer A coalition of civil rights groups yesterday voiced its opposition to a proposed agreement between the 9/4/02 Page 2 of 3 city of Pittsburgh and the U.S. Department of Justice that would end most of the federal oversight of the city police force. _ = Witold Walczak, right, head of the Pittsburgh chapter of the ACLU, along with Pittsburgh NAACP President Tim Stevens, left, speaks at a news conference yesterday against a proposal that would end most of the federal oversight of the city police force. (John Beale, Post-Gazette) Last week, the city and the Justice Department filed a joint motion asking a federal judge to lift the 1997 consent decree except for those provisions that apply to the Office of Municipal Investigations, the city agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct. A hearing will be held Sept. 13 before U.S. District Judge Robert Cindrich so all parties can provide their input before he makes a ruling. Yesterday the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and other groups got a jump on the hearing, saying they oppose lifting any part of the decree until problems at OMI are fixed. Court- appointed auditor James D. Ginger has been critical of OMI in his series of quarterly reports. The most recent, released last week, again blasted the office for what Ginger said is a backlog of more than 400 cases, lack of oversight, poor training of personnel and failure to investigate cases aggressively. '% diseased body is not viewed as well until the entire body is disease-free," said Pittsburgh NAACP president Tim Stevens at a news conference in the Hill District. It was the same position civil rights groups have maintained for months, but there was one new request. Citing a "conflict of interest," they asked that OMI be removed from supervision by the city Law Department and requested that Cindrich appoint a special master to head the agency. Witold Walczak, head of the Pittsburgh chapter of the ACLU, said the city has had ample time to get OMI to comply with the decree but hasn't taken the job seriously. "Fixing OMI is not rocket science," he said. "Until the entire system is fixed, the decree should not be lifted."Walczak said city lawyers should not oversee OMI because they are the same lawyers who have to defend officers accused of misconduct. In addition, he said the ACLU has evidence that the Law Department has deliberately interfered with investigations. In one case, he said, city Solicitor Jacqueline Morrow reassigned a veteran investigator from tackling the backlog to handling new cases. Walczak said the unidentified investigator objected and then quit in protest. Walczak said he hopes to find the investigator and present the case at the Sept. 13 hearing. Morrow said yesterday she had no recollection of the incident. "1 don't know what he's talking about," she said of Walczak. Morrow rejected the idea of a special master to supervise OMI. "We have a special master," she said. "He's called the auditor. And he's not being lax on us." Morrow also said she's uncertain why the civil rights groups are resisting the agreement. The motion, if approved by Cindrich, would require continuing oversight of OMI with a number of new provisions, such as the requirement to clear the backlog by the end of this year and preventing a new one from developing. But VValczak pointed out that the agreement would also eliminate critical monitoring by Ginger, particularly analysis of traffic stops, searches and use of force. The city signed the decree in April 1997 after Justice Department attorneys said they could prove a 9/4/02 Page 3 of 3 "pattern and practice" of police misconduct. The city has been in compliance with the decree as it pertains to police operations, but OMI remains a sticking point mostly because of its backlog. Torsten Ove can be reached at rove@post-gazette, corn or 412-263-2620 9/4/02