on sale now at amazon

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"I don't like this book because it don't got know pictures" Chief Rhorerer

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”
“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

When White Trash Attacks..............


  • Marine City, Michigan: A high school student is still in recovery after a police officer hit him in a head-on collision. The officer’s Blood Alcohol Content was twice the legal limit. “There were witnesses that were behind the driver – they had been on the phone with 911. They had been following him. He was all over the road,” said the teen’s father. ow.ly/gHpe8
  • Depew, Oklahoma: A police officer is in jail on complaints of first-degree burglary and assault with intent to commit a felony. ow.ly/gI6Xe

  • Update: Snohomish County, Washington: A sheriff’s deputy was fired in connection with a pending criminal case against him. He was charged with second-degree burglary, third degree theft, and third degree malicious mischief. ow.ly/gHo28

  • King County, Washington: The County agreed to pay $75,000 to a man who alleged that a deputy used excessive force during an incident. The man suffered a broken nose during the confrontation. ow.ly/gHnLV

  • Denver, Colorado: An off-duty patrol officer allegedly caused a rollover crash, and was subsequently charged with drunken driving. The officer is still on the job, but not on the streets, while the incident is investigated. ow.ly/gHnpZ

  • Springfield, Massachusetts: An officer was charged with criminal mischief, breach of peace, threatening and reckless endangerment after she allegedly attacked an acquaintance’s car. http://ow.ly/gHn5f

Deptford officer charged with murder after shooting victim dies
Philadelphia Inquirer
A Deptford Township police officer has been charged with murder after a man he is accused of shooting over the weekend died. David Compton, 27, was shot once in the head in Officer James Stuart's home at 5 a.m. Saturday, according to authorities.

Groups vow to make police oversight election issue


Candidates for the job of Omaha mayor can expect pointed questions about their positions on police oversight during their campaign stops, a group of concerned citizens said Thursday.
Members of Black Men United, Keep North Omaha Safe, Omahans for Justice and the Progressive Research Institute called Thursday for the elimination of arbitration when an Omaha police officer is disciplined. They spoke outside the Omaha Police Department Headquarters, where two officers have returned to work after arbitrators overturned their firings.
Police Officers Aaron Pennington and Jackie Dolinsky were fired for their participation in the beating of Robert Wagner as he was resisting arrested outside the Creighton University Medical Center on May 29, 2011. Both challenged their firings before an arbitrator, which is allowed under the police union contract.
“Under the Omaha police union contract, the arbitration process is completely secret,” said Willie Hamilton of Black Men United. “We cannot know what evidence the city's lawyers made in defense of the two firings or the details of the arbitrator's reasoning.”
Hospital surveillance videotape of Wagner’s arrest sparked community outrage and led then-Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes to fire Dolinsky and Pennington for using excessive force. The police union has said Hayes’ actions were politically motivated because the chief didn’t act until after the surveillance video was released to the public.
Wisconsin-based arbitrator Sharon K. Imes said city attorneys did not submit persuasive evidence that Pennington, the officer most recently reinstated to the force, used excessive force.
Hamilton said the arbitrator ruling undermines discipline and accountability in the police department.
“Two officers who committed completely unjustified use of force, documented by video evidence, are now back on the force,” he said. “Every officer who is fired now knows that choosing the arbitration process will likely win reinstatement.”
Wagner has a pending federal lawsuit against the city and a number of police officers, alleging that his civil rights were violated during the arrest.

He was sentenced to 60 days in jail for a misdemeanor attempted assault on Officer Scott Zymball. Wagner was found guilty of throwing a punch at Zymball.

Ohio Gang Rape: DOJ Found Steubenville Police Misconduct in 1997



Turns out, the protests claiming a “police cover-up” or “corruption” by the Steubenville Police Department and City Leaders to protect a group of local “Big Red” high school football players allegedly involved in the gang rape of a teenage girl were to be expected.

Why?

In 1997, the US Department of Justice found a “pattern or practice of” civil rights violations by the Steubenville Police Department including excessive use of force, false arrests, false charges, tampering with evidence, false reporting, and political corruption resulting in a lawsuit against the City of Steubenville, the Steubenville Police Department, the City Manager, and the Civil Service Commission.
The DOJ alleged in the Steubenville lawsuit, “that officers of the Steubenville Police Department have engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of rights, privileges,or immunities secured and protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, and that the City of Steubenville, the Steubenville Police Department, and the Steubenville City Manager (in his capacity as Director of Public Safety) have caused and condoned this conduct through inadequate policies and failure to train, monitor, supervise, and discipline police officers, and to investigate alleged misconduct, all in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 14141.” (US v. City of Steubenville, Steubenville Police Department, Steubenville City Manager, in his capacity as director of Public Safety, and Steubenville Civil Service Commission, Civil No. C2 97-966, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, August 28, 1997.)
Over a twenty year period, the city (Steubenville) lost, or settled out of court, 48 civil rights lawsuits involving its police force. The city paid out more than $800,000, $400,000 of which was between 1990 and 1996. As a result, the city’s police force became the second city in the United States to sign a consent decree with the federal government due to an excessive number of civil rights lawsuits, as stated on wikipedia.com. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steubenville,_Ohio)
Ouch.
As a settlement, the City of Steubenville agreed to a Court Consent Decree allowing for monitoring of the Steubenville police department by the DOJ and the implementation of an extensive list of changes to the police department’s training program, police procedures including the creation of an internal affairs unit to handle police complaints. Read full consent decree here.

This all may just be old news from 14 years ago, but, when the DOJ finds a “pattern or practice’” of civil rights violations and police misconduct, most attorneys will continue to look under the hood, especially, given that the current gang rape investigation was done and remains in the hands of the Steubenville Police Department. As we all know, cases can be won or lost depending on what a police officer/investigation did or didn’t do. Just ask OJ Simpson.

So, what’s changed in Steubenville? Has there been a significant reduction in the number of civil rights lawsuits and police complaints? Have the players changed? I can’t tell by the City’s new “transparent” website, but, I did find out that the current police chief and others did not go to the same Big Red high school as the defendant football players. (http://steubenvillefacts.squarespace.com/).
However, I did notice that Steubenville’s attorney has not changed. Mr. Gary Rapella, Steubenville’s law director, was the attorney of record back in 1997 for all the Steubenville defendants during the DOJ lawsuit and his name appears today as the law director. (http://www.clearinghouse.net/chDocs/public/PN-OH-0002-0003.pdf) Having been a deputy city attorney myself, I presume that Mr. Rapella continues to provide legal advice to the Steubenville Police Department, City Council and the City of Steubenville on the handling of their current police cases including the current gang rape investigation, media scrutiny and public protests.
On most days, police departments and city officials walk a tough line. Yet, these days, it may be wiser to call in an outside agency to handle the prosecution and the investigation of a potentially high-profile case (think Penn State and Duke) to avoid allegations of a “cover-up”, the intense media scrutiny and the expected public protests (Anonymous’”Occupy Steubenville”) especially, when the jurisdiction has a marked history of police misconduct and civil rights violations. Not to mention, the potential of jeopardizing the underlying case.
The question remains has Steubenville learned the lessons of the past.
Simply my opinion, what say you?

(Update 1/10/2013: Please read the comments, including those from Steubenville Attorney (and NAACP chair) Richard Olivito whose case “kicked” off the DOJ police misconduct investigation…he is still shining the light…)
(Update: 1/8/2013: As to what’s changed? It was not until 2005 that the Steubenville police department was found in full compliance with the 1997 court-ordered consent decree. During those 8 years, the court-appointed auditor Charles Reynolds filed quarterly reports, noting problems including with “supervision and discipline” of officers.http://www.parc.info/client_files/Newsletters/2002/7%20-%20novemberbpr02.pdf. The current police chief, William McCafferty, has been with the police department since 1989, thus, he was on the force during the time of the “excessive” “pattern or practice” of civil rights violations resulting in the consent decree. He was promoted to acting police chief in 2001, as many officers had left as they “didn’t want any part of the consent decree”. In 2003, he became the permanent police chief when the DOJ allowed him to be sworn in. His interview is worth the read. I wonder if it may have been a better idea to have an outside police chief, rather than promote one who was “trained” and “raised” in an environment that required a DOJ (taxpayer) lawsuit to get the police officers and the police department in compliance with the law. 
http://www.parc.info/client_files/Newsletters/2005/4%20-%20aprilppr05.pdf. Also, I wonder if the Steubenville police training includes the proper recovery and preservation of certain forensic evidence like cell phones, videos and tweets.

(Update 1/6/2013: As just reported on CNN, a defense attorney claims that the alleged victim sent a text to his client stating that the “rape didn’t happen” and that the attorney doesn’t think “she (victim) thinks she was raped”. The other defense attorney when asked about the issue of consent and alcohol, stated that the victim “was conscious”. What? This is an alleged gang rape case–who consents to a gang rape? Speaking as a former DV prosecutor, rape is about power, control, humiliation and violence. It is not about love or sex, and given those dynamics, alleged victim recantation is not a surprise and it doesn’t stop a prosecution in light of other physical and witness evidence. BTW in Ohio, it’s not a statutory rape case if the victim is 16, the age of consent. The defendants were charged as juveniles as the age of an adult is 18 and charging as an adult is up to the judge. Lastly, as to the police department, I wonder why no adult including the football coach who reportedly hosted one of the parties that August night where alcohol was allegedly served hasn’t been charged with any offense. Apparently, as reported on CNN, no other defendants will be charged in the alleged gang rape case. For rape crisis services, please contact http://www.rccmsc.org/faq.aspx or National Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-HOPE; suspected civil rights violation contact US DOJ at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/#one )