on sale now at amazon

on sale now at amazon
"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”

Former police officer held without bail on Rape assault charges



PROVIDENCE -
A former Pawtucket police officer will remain at the ACI after a court appearance on Wednesday. The judge ordered the former police officer held without bail and said he believes he may be a danger to himself or others.
Stephen Ricco, 41, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. He is accused of choking, biting and raping an ex-girlfriend last Thanksgiving in North Smithfield.
Ricco resigned from the force last year, after pleading no contest to a different charge of domestic disorderly conduct.
His defense attorney asked that his client be released to a rehab program. The judge said he would consider that once he had more information. A hearing on that is set for next week.



Miami cop accused of helping drug traffickers get guns, plot killing


By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

-- Ralph Mata was an internal affairs lieutenant for the Miami-Dade Police Department, working in the division that investigates allegations of wrongdoing by cops.
Outside the office, authorities allege that the 45-year-old longtime officer worked with a drug trafficking organization to help plan a murder plot and get guns.
A criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey Tuesday accuses Mata, also known as "The Milk Man," of using his role as a police officer to help the drug trafficking organization in exchange for money and gifts, including a Rolex watch.
In one instance, the complaint alleges, Mata arranged to pay two assassins to kill rival drug dealers.
The killers would pose as cops, pulling over their targets before shooting them, according to the complaint.
"Ultimately, the (organization) decided not to move forward with the murder plot, but Mata still received a payment for setting up the meetings," federal prosecutors said in a statement.
The complaint also alleges that Mata used his police badge to purchase weapons for drug traffickers.
Mata, according to the complaint, then used contacts at the airport to transport the weapons in his carry-on luggage on trips from Miami to the Dominican Republic.
Court documents released by investigators do not specify the name of the drug trafficking organization with which Mata allegedly conspired but says the organization has been importing narcotics from places such as Ecuador and the Dominican Republic by hiding them "inside shipping containers containing pallets of produce, including bananas."
The organization "has been distributing narcotics in New Jersey and elsewhere," the complaint says.
Authorities arrested Mata on Tuesday in Miami Gardens, Florida.
It was not immediately clear whether Mata has an attorney, and police officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Mata has worked for the Miami-Dade Police Department since 1992, including directing investigations in Miami Gardens and working as a lieutenant in the K-9 unit at Miami International Airport, according to the complaint. Since March 2010, he had been working in the internal affairs division.
Mata faces charges of aiding and abetting a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiring to distribute cocaine and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.
He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Florida on Wednesday.
If convicted, Mata could face life in prison.


Ex-Knox officer charged with child rape moved to Blount jail


By Jamie Satterfield

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is alleging a former Knox County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant repeatedly raped a girl beginning when she was 12-years-old, court records show.
A Knox County grand jury on Tuesday issued a sealed presentment charging Dennis Mills Jr., 43, with crimes that include two counts of child rape for the alleged sexual abuse of the girl from March 2012 to March 2013 when the girl was 12. He is charged with statutory rape by an authority figure for alleged rapes from March 2013 to March 3, 2014, while the girl was 13.
The move to indict Mills for alleged rapes while the girl was 12 ups the ante for Mills should he be convicted. Child rape is a class A felony which carries a minimum 25-year prison term.
The indictment was obtained by Knox County Assistant District Attorney General Joanie Stewart. TBI Agent Andy Corbitt is listed as lead investigator.
Mills was fired Tuesday night after his arrest, according to Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Martha Dooley.
The TBI began investigating the Powell resident on March 4, at the request of District Attorney General Randy Nichols. Nichols’ office, along with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, assisted in the investigation.
Earlier, the Sheriff’s Office placed Mills on administrative leave without pay.
Upon arrest, Mills was housed in the Knox County Detention Facility on a $250,000 bond. Mills later was transferred to the Blount County Jail.
Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones said Mills was transferred so it would not appear that he would be shown favoritism in the Knox County facility.
Knox County court records show that the teen approached her mother late the evening of March 3 and alleged that Mills had “been forcing her to have sex with him for over a year.” The girl said Mills had abused her that day.
The teen said Mills threatened that “no one would believe her” if she told others about the alleged abuse and that authorities would take her from her mother.
The girl’s mother informed the TBI of the allegations, court records show, and took her daughter to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital for an examination.


NNPD officer arrested twice in one week


By Rachel West

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – Officers in Newport News have arrested one of their own on felony charges for the second time this week.
Holly McPherson with the Newport News Police Department said Officer Christopher B. Hancock, 30, was arrested Thursday afternoon at police headquarters after violating a protective order. He was also arrested Tuesday afternoon at police headquarters, charged with threats to burn.
The burn arrest stems from an incident that reportedly occurred April 2. McPherson said officers were notified of a domestic incident between Hancock and his wife at their home in the Denbigh area, and a criminal investigation immediately began, leading to his arrest.
Hancock was released from custody Tuesday on his signature, pending an arraignment in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on Wednesday. After his arrest Thursday, he was put in the custody of the Newport News City Jail.
McPherson said the department is not releasing the circumstances surrounding the incident leading to Hancock’s arrest on Thursday.
Hancock has been with the Newport News Police Department since 2011 and was assigned as a patrol officer in the South Precinct.
Threats to burn is a class 5 felony and can carry a punishment of between one year and 10 years behind bars. Violation of a protective order is a class one misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and $2,500 in fines.


Prisoner escape leads to pair of officer suspensions


By Robert Maxwell

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Two Austin police officers are off the job starting Wednesday for a total of 11 unpaid days each after allowing a prisoner to escape last October.
The prisoner was being transported from the emergency room at University Medical Center Brackenridge on Oct. 13, 2013, to the Travis County Jail.
A disciplinary memo shows Officer Leonard Wheeler and the driver, Officer Shawn Williams, failed to seatbelt the handcuffed prisoner. Additionally, neither officer checked the latch and lock on the transport van’s door handle, allowing the prisoner to escape.
Further more, neither officer followed protocol when they did not immediately alert their chain of command of the escape. The memo states that lapse in judgment put the public at risk.
Ofc. Wheeler only told his sergeant what had happened after the prisoner had been recaptured.
This is not the first time Wheeler has been reprimanded. Austin’s police chief suspended Wheeler for seven days last October for failing to comply with APD policies on the care and transport of prisoners. That time he failed to turn on his body camera while transporting a prisoner, something he again failed to do after the prisoner escape in October, the newest memo shows.
“In this incident,” Chief Art Acevedo wrote, “Officer Wheeler has again failed to satisfactorily perform his duties.”
The chief also wrote the new suspension memo may be taken into consideration when Wheeler comes up for promotion.
This also is Williams’ second recent suspension. The chief pulled him off the job Aug. 15 for six days for neglect of duty after he failed to write up a two-car crash that involved a minor who had been drinking alcohol, according to the disciplinary memo released then.
In justifying the new 11-day suspension, the chief noted October’s prisoner escape happened just two months after Williams finished his first suspension. He, too, could be bypassed for future promotion according the chief’s memo.
Each officer can appeal the new suspensions within 10 days.
City of Austin employee records show Ofc. Leonard Wheeler, 33, has been with APD  since November 2005. Ofc. Shawn Williams, 30, has been with APD since September 2006.


Ludlow officer pleads not guilty to charges related to theft of drugs from evidence locker


SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts — A high-ranking Ludlow police officer suspended after he was charged with stealing drugs from the department's evidence locker has pleaded not guilty at his Superior Court arraignment.
Lt. Thomas Foye pleaded not guilty Tuesday to tampering with evidence, theft of drugs from a dispensary, and cocaine possession.
The Republican (http://bit.ly/1gKxnvG ) reports that he remains free on personal recognizance and must surrender his guns, which his lawyer says he has already done.
According to court documents, video surveillance captured the 49-year-old Foye entering the locked narcotics locker at the police station, where he appears to handle and open evidence bags.
He was arrested in August and suspended without pay last month.
In a prior statement, Foye said he "went into surgery a hero and came out a drug addict."



2 more officers suspended over Omaree Varela Case

  
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Albuquerque police officer Jennifer Jara and Lt. Natalie Sanchez have been suspended because of the way they handled a 2012 incident involving Omaree Varela, Target 7 has learned.
Jara was suspended for 40 hours and Sanchez was suspended for eight hours. Their suspensions include additional classroom time and further training on child abuse laws.
Jara responded to Omaree's school in October 2012 after he told a teacher told his mother beat him with a phone and belt.
Jara went to Omaree's school and wrote a report on the incident and notified the Children, Youth and Families Department. But disciplinary paperwork obtained by Target 7 said there were problems with the way evidence was processed in the case. There were also issues with the followup in the case.
Omaree was killed in December 2013. Police have charged his mother Synthia Varela Casaus in connection to his death.
The October 2012 call was one of three confirmed incidents where police investigated suspected abuse of Omaree.
The police officers' union told Target 7 they have not been asked to speak on behalf of Jara and Sanchez.
Jara and Sanchez are the latest officers to be disciplined for their actions in the numerous incidents involving Omaree.
Last week, Target 7 learned Officer Gil Vigil was fired and Officer Scott McMurrough was suspended after they were called to Omaree's home following an open 911 call in June 2013.
A dispatcher urged them to listen to 911 audio but they didn't. When they got there, they spoke to Omaree, Varela-Casaus and the boy's stepfather, Steve Casaus.
The officers' lapel video from the incident is 15 minutes long, but the officers were logged out on the call for nearly two hours.

Their sergeant Bruce Werely received a letter of reprimand in his personnel file. 



More suspended officers returning to work, police commissioner says


By Justin George

The number of Baltimore police officers on paid suspension over misconduct allegations has shrunk by more than half, allowing more officers to return to the street, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts announced Wednesday.
For years, Baltimore police have struggled with an officer shortage that has forced the agency to overspend its overtime budget. Last summer, vacancies numbered about 460 because of retirements, resignations, suspensions and military or medical leave. The department has about 3,100 sworn positions.
When Batts became commissioner in the fall of 2012, he said too many suspended officers were stuck in limbo waiting for administrative reviews on misconduct allegations, leaving their patrol assignments vacant for months and overstretching the department.
On Wednesday, Batts said the department has been able to shrink the logjam of cases awaiting disposition from 170 in 2012 to 69, allowing several officers who were cleared of wrongdoing to return to their posts.
Batts made the comments during a presentation at a Baltimore City Justice Coordinating Council as part of a general overview of changes he has implemented.
He did not specify how many of the cases resulted in officers returning to work rather than the number of officers being fired, and a police spokesman, Lt. Eric Kowalczyk, said those figures were not available late Wednesday. It was unclear exactly how many suspended officers have returned to patrol duties.
But Kowalczyk said police are shrinking their vacancies through quicker administrative hearings and recruitment. A social media advertising campaign that has included Twitter question-and-answer sessions has helped police recruit a class of more than 60 police cadets who will begin training at the Baltimore Police Academy on Friday.
"It's the largest academy class we've put through in years," Kowalczyk sa


Ludlow officer pleads not guilty to drug charges


The Springfield (Mass.) Republican / April 9, 2014 Buy reprints
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A high-ranking Ludlow police officer suspended after he was charged with stealing drugs from the department’s evidence locker has pleaded not guilty at his Superior Court arraignment.
Lt. Thomas Foye pleaded not guilty Tuesday to tampering with evidence, theft of drugs from a dispensary, and cocaine possession.
The Republican (http://bit.ly/1gKxnvG ) reports that he remains free on personal recognizance and must surrender his guns, which his lawyer says he has already done.
According to court documents, video surveillance captured the 49-year-old Foye entering the locked narcotics locker at the police station, where he appears to handle and open evidence bags.
He was arrested in August and suspended without pay last month.

In a prior statement, Foye said he ‘‘went into surgery a hero and came out a drug addict.’’

Officer suspended after crash investigation


MUNCIE — An investigation into a March 26 traffic accident involving a Muncie Police Department squad car  has resulted in a patrolman’s 10-day suspension.
Patrolman Ryan McCorkle was on his way to a nearby traffic accident that day when his MPD Interceptor, with lights and sirens activated, drove through a red light at Jackson and Madison streets, and collided with a Chevrolet Impala.
“Our officer was driving too fast at that blind intersection,” Police Chief Steve Stewart said this week. “That woman (driving the Impala) had no time to react.”
Neither McCorkle, who was driving to a crash scene at Madison and Main streets, nor the other driver suffered serious injuries in the accident.
Stewart said McCorkle “violated several rules pertaining to emergency driving.”
“You have to drive with due regard,” the chief said. “That can mean coming to a complete stop (at a red light). ... This young officer just made a mistake.”
Stewart said McCorkle, an officer for the past three years, had not been the target of any prior disciplinary action.
The driver of the Impala was not cited the night of the accident, Stewart said, and the police department will be responsible for paying for repairs to her vehicle.


NYPD: Drunk Cop Plowed Through Police Stop


An off-duty NYPD officer was charged with multiple offenses including drunk driving after nearly mowing down a bunch of on-duty officers at a traffic stop. Police say Shieed Haniff hit two cars, causing minor injuries for occupants in both vehicles, then sped through a police stop as officers jumped out of the way, reports the New York Daily News.

After he finally came to a stop, he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, DWI, reckless driving, and refusing to take a breath test. He was released without bail after his driver's license was revoked. Haniff, 30, is a seven-year veteran of the force and police say these are his first offenses, CBS reports.

Eagles fan awarded $75K in 2011 false arrest


A Maryland man who was arrested by Philadelphia police trying to eject several people from Lincoln Financial Field before the 2011 Eagles home opener was awarded $75,000 in damages Tuesday by a Philadelphia jury.
The 12-member Common Pleas Court jury returned its verdict for Harry Mims, 32, a real estate office manager who was arrested before the start of the Sept. 25 game against the New York Giants.
Mims' lawyer, Jonathan James, who handled the civil case with partner Michael C. Schwartz, said the jury returned its verdict after about 10 hours of deliberations since Friday. The jury did not impose punitive damages against Officers Mark Alston, Joseph Carter, or Francis Kelly. The lawsuit had sought damages for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and assault.
City Solicitor Shelley Smith said the verdict could be appealed. "We are reviewing the matter to determine potential appeal issues, and we believe some exist," Smith said.
Mims, then living in Silver Spring, Md., but now of Philadelphia, and a friend were walking around the Linc's mezzanine level before the game's start when he was arrested about 12:30 p.m.
He spent the next two days in a police holding cell before being released on bail. At a Municipal Court trial in January 2012, all charges against him were dismissed.
According to James, Mims and his friend were walking when Mims felt a hard bump on his shoulder, complained aloud, and turned to spot Alston leading a handcuffed man to be evicted from the stadium.
James said all three officers were part of a plainclothes detail assigned to mix among fans and try to prevent fights from erupting between fans of the opposing teams.
Police said Mims interfered with Alston and then resisted arrest, and was subdued by Alston and Carter while Kelly watched.


Annapolis police supervisor suspended after assault charge


By Pamela Wood

A high-ranking Annapolis police officer has been suspended after he was charged with second-degree assault in an alleged domestic dispute, according to police.
Capt. Christopher A. Amoia was charged April 4, according to court records and Lt. Gregory Wright, a spokesman for the Easton Police Department.
Wright said police were called to Amoia's home in Easton at 10:30 that night. The victim told police that she and Amoia had been arguing and things turned physical. Police reported that the victim told them Amoia had her against a wall with his forearm, Wright said. She was not treated for injuries.
A spokeswoman for the Annapolis police, said Amoia has been suspended with pay "at least the criminal case is concluded, at which point, a decision will be made whether or not to continue his suspension of police powers."
Amoia is commander of the department's administrative support services division, overseeing records, communications, community services and other services. He has been with the Annapolis police since June 1991, Miguez said.
Amoia does not have a lawyer listed in court records and does not have a listed phone number. He could not immediately be reached for comment. A trial is scheduled for May 27.


Trial for Former Martinsville Police Officer Charged With Shooting His Wife Underway



Martinsville, VA - The jury trial for a former Martinsville Police Officer charged with shooting his wife is underway Thursday.James Scott Witherow the second was indicted in July of last year.Witherow is charged with use of a firearm in commission of a felony, aggravated malicious wounding, and discharge of a firearm in an occupied dwelling.
The charges stem from an incident on April 14 of last year.


Knox County officer charged with rape transferred to Blount jail



A Knox County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with a rape investigation has been taken to the Blount County jail.
A Knox County grand jury indicted Dennis Mills Jr., 43, Powell, for rape of a child, statutory rape by an authority figure and incest. Authorities arrested him without incident in Knoxville Tuesday evening. Mills was being held on $250,000 bond in Knox County before his transfer.
Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones made the decision to move Mills from the Knox County jail to Blount County because of Mills’ affiliation with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and to “avoid any appearance of favoritism,” according to the KCSO website.
Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols reiterated that Mills would know the people on the force and that would supervise him at the Knox County Detention Facility.
“It was an unacceptable circumstance,” Nichols told The Daily Times Wednesday. “(Blount County) Sheriff (James) Berrong was kind enough to help us as far as housing. This way, we could move it along in the system, to avoid any problems.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began investigating Mills on March 4, at the request of Nichols. His office, along with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, assisted in the investigation.

The Sheriff’s Office placed Mills on administrative leave without pay.

Milwaukee officer charged with excessive force guilty of misconduct



MILWAUKEE —A Milwaukee police officer accused of using excessive force on a man in handcuffs has been found guilty of misconduct in office
Officer Rodney Lloyd, 48, was taken into custody in October by MPD Internal Affairs, the department said.
According to the criminal complaint, Lloyd escorted a suspect who was in handcuffs into a booking room in June. The complaint says the man showed no physical resistance to Lloyd.
The complaint says video surveillance showed that Lloyd "forcibly drove (the man's) head into the concrete block wall adjacent to a bench while placing him onto the bench."
Other officers in the station apparently intervened, and the suspect, who was under arrest for a domestic situation, suffered only a minor head injury.
Lloyd was found guilty of misconduct in office. He was found not guilty of a second charge of abuse of residents of a penal facility.
"Restraint is one of our core values, and we take our values very seriously," Police Chief Ed Flynn said in response to the charges.

 Lloyd could face three years in prison on the misconduct charge. He will be sentenced May 9

Mountlake Terrace police officer charged with DUI



by HEATHER GRAF

SEATTLE -- A commander who oversees the patrol division of the Mountlake Terrace Police Department is now on administrative leave, after being arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
Donald Duncan is an 18-year veteran of the police force.
According to court documents, a Washington State Patrol officer working in Snohomish County witnessed Duncan cross the centerline of traffic by approximately three tire widths.  Court documents also say he was driving at night without his headlights on and ran a red light as he was being pulled over.
Court documents say that as soon as the trooper pulled over the vehicle, Duncan immediately told him he had worked for the Mountlake Terrace Police Department for 18 years.  The trooper wrote that Duncan had "bloodshot and watery eyes" and smelled like alcohol.
Duncan allegedly begged the trooper not to arrest him.
Mountlake Terrace Police confirm to KING 5 that Duncan was placed on administrative leave in February, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Court documents say Duncan has pled not guilty to the charges.
KING 5 caught up with Duncan at his home in Lake Stevens.  He could not say much, because it is a pending case, but felt it was important for people to know his blood alcohol level was below the legal limit.
Court documents confirm his two breath samples registered at .055 and .058.  Both results are below the legal limit of .08.
In the WSP report, the investigating trooper said the breathalyzer test wasn't administered until about two hours after he pulled Duncan over.  Based on the rate at which alcohol is metabolized by the body, the trooper wrote in his report that he stood by his decision to arrest Duncan.
Duncan told KING 5 there were some discrepancies in the investigative report.  He also says he would never use his position as a law enforcement officer to get special treatment during a traffic stop.

He is hopeful his name will eventually be cleared.

Murfreesboro Cop Accused of Giving Out Name of Informant



The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Murfreesboro police officer in connection to a misconduct investigation.
 The TBI formally began investigating Officer Bryant Scott Smith on October 16, 2013, at the request of the police department and District Attorney General Bill Whitesell. Special agents determined that during the summer of 2013, Smith compromised ongoing vice and narcotic operations by providing the name of at least one potential confidential informant to a citizen of Rutherford County with a criminal history that includes offenses related to the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics.
 The 10-year veteran officer later admitted his involvement in the incident, after which the Murfreesboro Police Department placed him on administrative leave with pay.
 On Monday, the Rutherford County Grand Jury returned a two-count sealed indictment against the 42-year-old, charging him with official misconduct and misuse of official information. TBI agents arrested him this afternoon without incident at the Rutherford County Jail. After being booked, Smith was released on a $5,000 bond.


Miami-Dade cop arrested on DUI charges



BY BRENDA MEDINA AND CHARLES RABIN

A Miami-Dade police officer faces four counts of driving under the influence, damage to property and causing minor injuries to two people while driving under the influence.
Officer Ryan Louis Robinson was arrested on charges of driving drunk and injuring two girls after crashing his personal vehicle into a shopping cart Saturday at Cutler Ridge Shopping Center, 20445 Old Cutler Rd.
Video of the incident taken by the father of the injured girls shows Robinson barely able to balance himself shortly after 8 p.m., while standing up in the shopping center’s parking lot.
Robinson, who was off duty, was outside the Publix Supermarket in the South Miami-Dade mall when he crashed into another vehicle, then a shopping cart carrying Meah Garcia, 6, and sister Geah, 3.
Manuel García, the girls’ father, desperately held on to the cart trying to prevent his daughters from falling out. Garcia later said Robinson ignored him, then tried to leave. That’s when the cart fell over and Meah and Geah hit the pavement, suffering minor bruises and head injuries.
Garcia quickly ran after Robinson, pulling him out of the car and snatching the keys.
“When I opened the door of the car, I could feel a strong smell of alcohol,” García told El Nuevo Herald from his Cutler Bay home. “I told him: ‘You’re going to have to wait here until the police arrive.’”
Even when Miami-Dade Police officers arrived, Garcia said Robinson was not tested for alcohol for several hours.
“The officers went and talked to [Robinson] for about 15 minutes and then came and asked me for my documents and registration,” García said. “I had to tell [them], ‘Look, I don’t think you understand what’s going on here — we are the victims.’”
García said other witnesses offered to give their versions, but a female officer told him that his statement was sufficient. Shortly afterward, García said, an officer told him he could leave.
“But I told him that I wouldn’t leave until I saw what happened with that man,” said Garcia. “Only then did I learn that he was a police officer. I think they tried to cover up the incident to protect one of their own instead of the real victims.”
García called a lawyer, who advised him to demand that a lieutenant come to the scene.
The arrest affidavit says an officer who arrived at 10:20 p.m. found Robinson without handcuffs, seated in the back of a patrol car. He was arrested after failing to pass a field sobriety test and refusing an alcohol breath test.
“I immediately observed the following symptoms: Odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath, and red bloodshot watery eyes,” officer F. Kinsey Smith said in the arrest report.
García recorded part of the incident on his cellphone. On it, two officers are seen giving Robinson instructions to walk on a line. It took Robinson about 30 seconds to balance himself before taking a few staggered steps.
Robinson, 41, who works out of The Hammocks substation, was released from jail after paying his bond. The county’s traffic homicide unit is investigating the incident. Police said Robinson has been relieved of duty with pay.
The little girls were in good condition Tuesday, though still frightened from incident. They complained of headaches, García said.
“Imagine, they don’t want to go back to the supermarket because of what happened, and now they get scared when they see a police officer,” their father said. “I don’t even remember well what I felt when I saw my daughters falling to the ground. My mind went blank for an instant.”
This has been one of several accidents that Robinson has been involved in since he joined the county police department in 2003.
Robinson had a string of accidents in county vehicles during a 21/2 year stretch between October 2004 and March 2007 when he was a member of the department’s tactical robbery intervention team — a detail in which it isn’t unusual for officers to use their undercover vehicles in chases.
During that stretch, Robinson was involved in nine accidents, three the department ruled were preventable.
But Robinson’s 10th accident, in July 2013, was far more serious than the others. Investigators found Robinson at fault for crashing his vehicle as he tried to avoid a head-on collision on Old Cutler Road at Southwest 173rd Terrace. A bottle of alcohol was later found in his marked vehicle.
A police department disciplinary action report says, “You are hereby advised that this type of conduct is unacceptable."
He was suspended for three weeks in July and August over the incident” And last month, a police report indicated Robinson also should receive a written reprimand for purchasing and transporting alcohol in his vehicle.
In 2007, Robinson was involved in a controversial double-shooting of two 21-year-old men in Little Haiti. The incident spurred protests. Robinson and partner Michael Mendez had pulled over Michael Knight and Frisco Blackwood at a dead end on Northwest 65th Street and ordered them out of the car.
The officers said one of the men put the car in reverse and smashed into their vehicle. The officers opened fire, killing both men.
Fifteen months later, Miami-Dade prosecutors cleared both of any wrongdoing after a female passenger said the men rammed the police car on purpose in an attempt to get away.



NYPD Commissioner-Turned-Felon Has a Message For Us Now That He's Been to Prison




By Laura Dimon  
As the top cop who landed behind bars, he's arguably one of New York's most controversial figures. Bernard Kerik, 58, served as the police commissioner of New York City under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. In 2010, after years of litigation, he was convicted of tax fraud and false statements and was sentenced to four years in federal prison. Today, he is a convicted felon.
On a recent bright morning in a Manhattan skyscraper office, Kerik leaned his head against the glass window and stared down at the two distinct square plots where the Twin Towers once stood. He was there when those towers fell. He lost many of his men that day and saw unimaginable things — people jumping out of the burning buildings, some holding each other as they went.
That was then. That was when he headed up 55,000 personnel and a $3.2 billion budget. That was before Giuliani recommended him to Bush, before the thorough vetting process uncovered a questionable past.
He turned around and said, "I've never seen this view before." There was a palpable sadness in his voice.
He's been called a hero and a leader, a liar and a crook. But praise or condemn him, it's hard to argue that he doesn't have a damned interesting story. He said that throughout his career, he thought he understood the criminal justice system. But it wasn't until the tough "lock 'em up" cop with the Tony Soprano-like swagger was suited up in prison uniform, mopping floors and living in a small room with three other men that he realized: He knew "nothing," he said, until he was on the other side of the bars.
He was one of 2.4 million prisoners in the United States. Because of mass incarceration, the country now accounts for 25% of the world’s imprisoned despite making up, overall, just 5% of the world's population. In the U.S., one in every 108 adults was in prison or jail in 2012 and 1 in 28 children has a parent behind bars. Currently, 65 million Americans have a criminal record — that is greater than the total populations of England and Wales combined.
The numbers are staggering and reflect a deeply troubled system. Kerik has some insights about how to begin fixing it.
***
He was born in Newark, N.J. to a father who left him and a mother who was an alcoholic and prostitute. She abandoned him when he was 3 years old, leaving him with her pimp's mother before Kerik's father, also an alcoholic, regained custody. His mother was murdered when Kerik was 9 years old. He dropped out of high school at 16.
In short, he joined the army, earned his degree and, after rising from warden to narcotics detective to commissioner of correction, he landed the position of police commissioner, the highest position in New York City law enforcement, responsible for the world's largest local force. He was appointed in 2000 and served for 16 months. It wasn't long before the abandoned child and high school dropout had the White House on the phone making him an offer.
His life had been a series of unlikely moves, exceptions to the rule. But improbability turned out to be both his blessing and his undoing: Just as swiftly as he'd climbed to the top, he crashed down. 
In 2004, then-President George W. Bush nominated him to be the director of the Department of Homeland Security. About 10 days later, after news reports surfaced that Kerik hadn't paid required taxes for his family's nanny, he withdrew his nomination.
In 2005, state authorities accused him of receiving a below-market price for the renovation of his co-op from construction company Interstate Industrial. Authorities alleged that the company's owners, brothers Frank and Peter DiTommaso, had motivations for city work and also had ties to the mafia. (Both brothers have since been acquitted.) Kerik pleaded guilty to two state misdemeanor ethics violations and paid $221,000 in fines.
It was only the beginning.
In 2007, the federal government indicted him with 16 charges of tax fraud and false statements. He pleaded guilty to eight. The remaining charges were "dismissed as part of a negotiated plea," he said. Needless to say, he never went to the White House. He ended up instead in a place where thousands of people before him were sent under his iron fist: prison.
He was sentenced in February 2010. (Currently he is suing his former attorney, Joseph Tacopina, seeking punitive damages for negligence and legal malpractice, among various charges.) Kerik served more than three years in a federal prison in Maryland and was released on probation in May 2013. He was restricted to house confinement until October and will remain on probation until October 2017.
At the time of his conviction, opinions ranged from disgust to admiration. The judge stated in a pretrial courtroom that Kerik had a "toxic combination of self-minded focus and arrogance." Meanwhile, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough described Kerik as a "hero" who had "made some bad mistakes." (Kerik was credited with several accomplishments, including reducing violence at the city's notorious Rikers Island jail by 90%.)
Andrew Kreig, an attorney and investigative reporter who covered the 2010 court proceedings, wrote in a recent message that, "Judges and prosecutors treated [Kerik] ruthlessly. … I eye-witnessed the shocking unfairness directed against him."
But Kerik is moving forward, determined to use his experience to educate people and spark progress. During the interview, he discussed some of the criminal justice system's fundamental flaws.
"The unfortunate thing is you take these young men and women, you lock them up for years under these Draconian sentencing guidelines, and then you let them back into society," he said. "Do you absolutely think that they're going to be better people? Because … if these are first-time offenders, and they've never been in the system, the only thing you've done for them is institutionalize them. The only thing you've taught them in reality is how to steal, cheat, lie, con, manipulate, gamble and fight."
There are more people behind bars today for a drug offense than there were in 1980 for all offenses combined. A first-time drug offense carries a sentence of 5-10 years, though the vast majority of those arrested are not charged with serious offenses. In 2005, for example, 4 out of 5 drug arrests were for possession, not sales. 
Kerik wanted to emphasize the collateral damage of a conviction. "There are probably 50,000 collateral consequences of your felony," he said. To be labeled a felon commonly means, among many things, ineligibility for food stamps and public housing, discrimination from private landlords, losing your vote and denial of a wide range of jobs. Kerik noted that becoming a garbage man or a barber is often not an option because it requires state licensing, off-limits for convicted felons.
On top of it, in many states, if an ex-offender on probation cannot get a job in a certain period of time, he or she can be sent back to prison. In 2000, about as many people were returned to prison just for parole violations as were admitted in 1980 for all reasons combined. They accounted for more than 35% of all prison admissions and of them, only one-third was returned for a new conviction. The rest were returned for a technical violation, such as missing a meeting with the parole officer.
When asked about collateral damage to the family, Kerik — who is married and has a son and two daughters — grew even more serious and emphatic. "By far … there are no words in my mind, there are no words, to express the damage, or quantify the damage, done to your children."
He was surprised to find that seemingly harmless and commonplace decisions, such as lying on a credit card application or about length of stay at a job, could both be classified as felonies. "We have lost sight of criminal intent," he said. "You have to have intended to commit a crime. In the federal system, criminal intent rarely exists."
So where does he draw the line? Who does deserve to be locked up?
"People that are a detriment to society, harmful to society, violent felons, bad people that do bad things,” he said. "And listen, I put plenty of people in prison. Anybody that knows me … knows that I have put lots of people in prison, for long times." He does not regret a single arrest he made.
He was also dismayed to learn about the incentives driving the legal players. A prosecutor is judged based on his or her success in winning a case, whereas a public defender is evaluated based on the number of cases he or she can get through. Eighty percent of defendants cannot afford a lawyer, and a public defender will routinely have a caseload of more than 100 clients at a time. More than 96% of convictions in the federal system result from guilty pleas rather than decisions by juries, a worrying figure. In Kerik's opinion, "Nobody is innocent until proven guilty. No one," he said. The defendant is automatically "convicted in the court of public opinion."
Kerik has been stabbed and shot at. He's missed a bomb by minutes. "I've had the World Trade fall down on me. I've been the subject of death threats," he said. "[But] there is nothing in my life that's been worse than this," referring to the entire process, from the allegations through serving the sentence.
He said that if fixing the system were up to him, he would start with three changes: re-thinking all mandatory minimum sentencing; minimizing collateral damage by allowing the opportunity to clear one's record and ending life sentences for white-collar offenses. One of the most frustrating challenges is that politicians agree but are too afraid to say it, he said. "I don't know many [Congressional leaders] I've talked to that haven't told me, 'You're absolutely right.'" But they are "scared to death" to voice their views, in fear they'd be criticized for being soft on crime.
Currently, Kerik is writing another book and advocating for national criminal justice reform by talking to government and community leaders, the general public and the media in an attempt to help educate people about the injustices of the system. Politically, there might be hope: It's actually one issue that players from both sides have agreed on, something that has turned Attorney General Eric Holder and Republican Senator Rand Paul into unexpected allies.
Kerik's mission is to "at least create the debate they need to make the change. … You can't fix something that you don't know is broken."
"I didn't know," he said. "I had experience and success. I still didn't know."
Kerik did not learn about his mother's murder until he was 18. He didn't even know how she died until he was police commissioner and writing his autobiography many years later. The homicide was never investigated; the murderer was never found.
Kerik wrote in his 2001 book that her death gave him "a heightened sense of justice and duty, a deep need to protect people, an impatience with criminals." Perhaps all along he's been hunting for her killer. "Maybe what I've thought of as striving for a career and living a life of honor is actually just chasing the shadow of my own abandonment," he wrote. He used, mastered and enforced the very system that ultimately entrapped, entangled and destroyed him.
He's always wanted to catch the bad guy, but he will never work as a cop again. His felony record means, he said, "a lifetime ban of not being able to do the only work I've ever known."
But he's on a new trajectory now. And if his past serves as any indication, he will surprise onlookers with yet another improbable move.


Former Markham Cop Sentenced to 5 Years for Lying to FBI



Former Markham Deputy Police Chief Anthony DeBois was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for lying to FBI agents who were investigating an allegation that DeBois sexually abused a woman in his police station office.
DeBois last September pleaded guilty to a single count of lying to the FBI. But while he said he did have sex with women in his office, he insisted none of them were in police custody.
"I'd like to apologize for my conduct and lying to the FBI," DeBois told Judge Joan Lefkow. "As a police officer, I should have known better".
In the case in question, a woman alleged she'd been picked up with a friend who was accused of counterfeiting. After about a half hour in police custody, she said she was taken by another officer to DeBois' office, where he forced her to engage in oral sex and then raped her.
Defense attorney Terry Ekl has called the woman's credibility into question, pointing out that she admitted to lying about her contacts with DeBois and forcing her to concede that she "may have" visited DeBois in the police station a few days after the alleged attack.
Lefkow called DeBois' conduct "revolting," and said she understood why the woman didn't immediately report the attack.
"She had no reason to believe that the Markham Police Department would help her," she said. "[DeBois] obstructed justice."
DeBois served as deputy chief between 2008 and 2011 and was Markham’s inspector general until 2012. He worked with the Chicago Housing Authority Police Department in the 1990s and as a Harvey Police officer.
Records show DeBois was named in about a dozen lawsuits between 2004 and 2011 alleging he was abusive, many of which were settled out of court.
He's to surrender to authorities on June 10.


Former Plainfield cop sentenced for misconduct


NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - (AP) -- A former Plainfield police sergeant has been sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of falsely accusing a woman of crimes and threatening her with jail unless she performed a sexual act.
The Union County prosecutor's office says Samuel Woody was sentenced on Wednesday in Superior Court in New Brunswick.
Prosecutors say Woody arrested a 27-year-old resident on bogus theft and burglary charges in 2011. Authorities say Woody later met the woman and coerced her into removing some of her clothing while he performed a sex act on himself while in uniform. A jury found him guilty in December 2013 on charges of official misconduct and criminal sexual contact.
The 44-year-old Woody had been with the department for 12 years.