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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”

Chief: Alleged Police Brutality a 'Dark Cloud' Over Dept.



Three officers are on paid administrative leave and the AG's office, FBI and U.S. Attorney are all investigating and pledging to "get to the bottom" of the incident.
Posted by Kyle Stucker 
Seabrook Police Chief Lee Bitomske pledged Wednesday afternoon that his department, in cooperation with state Attorney General's Office, "will get to the bottom" of whether three of his officers are guilty of criminal misconduct during the arrest of Michael Bergeron Jr.
Bitomske, Deputy Police Chief Mike Gallagher, Town Manager Bill Manzi and the Seabrook Board of Selectmen held a press conference Wednesday afternoon following a nonpublic selectmen session to discuss the incident and the subsequent AG investigation into the matter.
"Obviously it's a major setback for us," said Bitomske. "It's a dark cloud, but I can assure the people of Seabrook we do have professional officers in the department — men and women... I hope this will be dealt with swiftly and sooner rather than later, but we will get to the bottom of this with the resources that are available to us to help us out."
Seabrook Patrolmen Mark Richardson, Adam Laurent and Keith Dietenhofer have all been placed on paid administrative leave while the AG's office conducts a criminal investigation into recently-surfaced surveillance footage that shows the officers using force in the Seabrook police station following Bergeron's arrest on driving while intoxicated charges on Nov. 11, 2009.
U.S. Attorney John Kacavas confirmed to Patch on Wednesday that his office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are also involved in the investigation due to possible civil rights violations.
Gallagher said the AG's office has assumed the lead in the investigation and that Seabrook's investigation is "on hold" until the AG has completed its findings.

"We will not be running a parallel investigation because the officers have due process rights under the [U.S.] Constitution and they also have due process rights under their collective bargaining agreement," said Gallagher. "One investigation might affect the other."
Officer Dave Hersey, the fourth officer shown in the video, which was posted by Bergeron to YouTube on Monday, hasn't been placed on administrative leave.
Manzi said the incident isn't a reflection of the regular protocol of the Seabrook Police Department and that the members of the department will continue to "do an outstanding" and "exceptional job" for local residents.
"Everybody at this table stands behind the police department and the men and women of the police department," said Manzi. "We don't consider anything we're looking at as the norm."
Bitomske said the video was made available to Bergeron as part of the discovery process of a potential court case started by Bergeron at some point following the incident, which is consistent with Bergeron's version of the events.
The reason the court case never came to fruition was still unknown Wednesday, and it is still unknown why the video surfaced this week more than four years after the arrest of the then-19-year-old Bergeron, a Seabrook resident with a lengthy history of arrests.
Bergeron, now 23, has not answered media requests for comment.
Gallagher and Bitomske both said Wednesday that they each saw the video for the first time this week, and that they are working to determine whether anyone else saw the video after it was recorded in 2009.
“We’re looking for answers at this point ourselves,” said Gallagher, answering a question about how the events could take place on station surveillance cameras without the incident being brought to the attention of supervising officers or other members of the department.