Fairfax County Police Watch: 02/02/15

Bayonne police officer arrested over alleged inapproriate use of force

By A.J. Ross

BAYONNE (WABC) --

A Bayonne police officer is under arrest and facing charges of using inappropriate force during an arrest.

FBI agents took Officer Dominick Lillo, 44, into custody at his home Friday morning.

Officer Domenico Lillo, a 14-year veteran, has been suspended without pay from the Bayonne police force pending a judge's ruling in this federal case.

He's accused of excessive force and falsifying reports, and records show this isn't the first time these type of allegations have been made against him.

"My other brother called me and he was hysterical," said Maura Walsh, Brandon's sister.

Maura Walsh admits her brother Brandon isn't perfect, but says he didn't deserve what happened on December 27th, 2013. That's when Bayonne Police Officer Domenico Lillo and two others officers burst through their home and arrested him for an outstanding warrant.

"If you come to a house to arrest someone over a bench warrant, I don't think it is within protocol to put someone in handcuffs and then beat their face in with a flash light," Walsh said.

Maura says Officer Lillo and his counterparts first sprayed mace on everyone inside, even her two small children.

"My mom was maced along with my children, the dogs, they were throwing up all over the place, it was a bad scene," Walsh said.

Then while Brandon was in cuffs, family members say Officer Lillo violently beat him in the face with a flashlight over and over again.

"Once you cross that line into disfiguring people for no good reason at all then that's where someone else needs to step in and say ok you've stepped over the boundary," Walsh said.

"The front teeth were all missing out of his mouth and there were some wires in place, in addition to that he had a number of stitches closing his forehead," said Joel Silverman, Brandon's attorney.

In addition to excessive force, Brandon's attorney Joel Silberman says Officer Lillo is also being charged with falsifying his report of the incident which was captured on a nearby surveillance camera.

Records show this isn't the first time allegations like these have been levied against Lillo.

In fact the city of Bayonne paid $100,000 to settle another claim back in 2007 where two men say they were beaten by Lillo and four others.

"There seems to be a pattern within that town of excessive force on people so hopefully this brings it to light and brings about some change," Silberman said.

"The only thing we wanted was justice," Walsh said.

The Bayonne Police Department did conduct an internal affairs investigation and says they've also been cooperating with the Hudson County Prosecutors office.

The use of excessive force count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, while falsifying records carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

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Want to change the murderous arrogance and indifference of the Fairfax County Police? Then fire the people who hire the cops and watch how quickly things change. Start with tossing Gerry Hyland out of office. He basically works for the cop’s best interest and not yours.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Fulton cop sentenced for 'shocking' attack on handcuffed prisoner

By John O'Brien

UTICA, N.Y. -- A former Fulton police sergeant was sentenced to 15 months in prison this morning for beating a handcuffed prisoner unconscious last summer.

U.S. District Judge David Hurd imposed the sentence on Joseph Arigo, who pleaded guilty last year to punching Gary Bloss eight times in the head while Bloss was in custody at the Fulton police station.

"I think what he did was as shocking as you can get for a police officer in a police station," Hurd said. The judge could've sentenced Arigo to between 24 and 30 months under federal sentencing guidelines.

But Hurd decided to depart from the guidelines because Arigo's conduct on June 28 was an aberration in an 18-year police career.

Still, Arigo deserved to go to prison, the judge said.

"You caused a lot of harm to the Fulton Police Department, and it just cannot go unpunished," he said.

Arigo, 48, said his conduct was inexcusable. He said he hoped the victim, Bloss, can forgive him.

"I'm ashamed of what I did," Arigo said. "That was not me that day. That is not how I conduct myself and how I treat others."

He must surrender at a federal prison March 10 to start his sentence.

Arigo grabbed Bloss' head with both hands and smashed it into a bench after the two had words in a booking room at the police station last summer. Arigo then grabbed Bloss by the throat and punched him eight times in the head, Bloss has testified.

Hurd said he received at least 20 letters of support for Arigo, including those from Fulton's mayor and police chief.

Arigo's sentence was longer because he lied to his supervisors about what happened, and unplugged a video camera before the attack, Hurd said. Those actions obstructed the investigation, the judge said.

If it weren't for two Fulton officers who came forward, Arigo's crime might never have come to light, prosecutor Dana Mulhauser told the judge. She wouldn't say afterward who the officers were.

Bloss needed stitches to close a wound in his head that was caused by a ring on Arigo's finger. Bloss blacked out after his calls for medical attention went unheeded, he said.

Arigo's lawyer, Emil Rossi, told Hurd that Arigo had a difficult childhood, growing up without a mother and being raised by a father who was emotionally absent. Arigo started working "day-in and day-out since he was 5 years old," Rossi said.

"It was a life of slave labor," he said.

Arigo suffered from severe depression that was brought on by years of horrible memories of scenes he responded to as a police officer, Rossi said.

Arigo suffered "overwhelming grief" after consoling the mother whose son committed suicide, Rossi said. The mother begged the officer to bring her son back, Rossi said.

Bloss, 31, is serving 2 to 4 years in state prison for violating his parole on a burglary conviction. His earliest possible release date is April 19.

He filed a notice with the city of Fulton saying he intends to sue.

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Ex-hero cop DeCoatsworth gets probation in assault case

JULIE SHAW

AFTER ALL THE ups and downs of ex-cop Richard DeCoatsworth's life, the highlight of yesterday's sentencing hearing on his simple-assault conviction was a demand by his father for an apology from prosecutors, and a judge's comments finding that demand "outrageous."

Common Pleas Judge Charles Ehrlich sentenced DeCoatsworth, 28, to 18 months' probation and ordered him to undergo counseling.

A jury in November convicted DeCoatsworth of simple assault for striking his then-girlfriend, Sadie Martinez, during an argument May 9, 2013, at the Port Richmond home they shared.

DeCoatsworth is the once-hero cop who in 2007 survived a shotgun blast to the face. In 2009, he sat next to first lady Michelle Obama at President Obama's first address to Congress.

Before pronouncing his sentence, Ehrlich said he "was very disturbed" by something in DeCoatsworth's pre-sentence investigation report. Mark DeCoatsworth, the defendant's father, had said he believed that his son was "targeted by the city for some political motive" and deserved an apology from the District Attorney's Office, the judge said.

"I found that quite outrageous," Ehrlich said, his voice rising.

The judge also gave DeCoatsworth a lecture on life.

"You'll never move on in your life until you stand on your own . . . without always getting your father's approval," he said.

DeCoatsworth, who had declined to comment before the sentencing, then felt the need to say something.

"As far as my father's concerned, I know for a fact his comments were being directed toward the other cases," DeCoatsworth said, referring to two cases in which authorities in May 2013 accused him of leaving a party with two women, then holding them hostage at another location and forcing them to take drugs and engage in sexual acts at gunpoint. In those cases, DeCoatsworth was charged with rape, possession of drugs, trafficking of persons, promoting prostitution and related crimes.

He spent 16 months and 11 days in county jail, according to prison records, before the D.A.'s office on Sept. 29, 2014, dropped charges against him in those cases.

"My father was defending his son," DeCoatsworth said, adding: "I love my father. I will always respect and listen to my father, no matter what anyone says."

Assistant District Attorney James Stinsman asked Ehrlich to give DeCoatsworth a sentence of two years' probation on the simple-assault conviction. Defense lawyer L. George Parry called that "excessive," given that DeCoatsworth already spent nearly 17 months in jail.

After the hearing, Parry said DeCoatsworth has been "temporarily hanging out" in Florida, where he wants to have his probation transferred. DeCoatsworth said he plans to work in the Sunshine State, maybe "something to do with animals," like working at a no-kill shelter.

Jim Carpenter, chief of the D.A.'s Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, later said his office would have no comment on Mark DeCoatsworth's request for an apology.

Richard DeCoatsworth had retired as a cop in December 2011. In May 2013, SWAT officers stormed his home on Salmon Street near Somerset to arrest him on the allegations that he forced the two women to engage in sexual acts. In February 2014, DeCoatsworth pleaded guilty to simple assault, drug possession and promoting prostitution in exchange for dismissal of other charges, but in April he withdrew his guilty plea.

After the D.A.'s office in September dropped all charges against DeCoatsworth in relation to the two women, he still faced charges of abusing his ex-girlfriend, Martinez, now 29.

In November, the jury acquitted him of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, but convicted him of simple assault.

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

SLED Investigation into Police Officer "On Going"

Scott Cooke

Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- SLED continues to investigate the case of a Columbia Police officer who is suspended from the department after video appears to show him hitting a person several times.

WLTX asked SLED for an update on the January 18 incident. SLED responded back to our questions with a brief email that states: "The case investigation is open and ongoing."

Columbia Police say Tyrone Pugh was off-duty and working with several other officers at the Sound Stage on Blanding Street when a fight began around 2 a.m. on January 18. The officers were trying to break up the fight and get the crowd under control when the incident took place. Witnesses took cell phone video that appears to show a police officer striking a man on the ground.

After News19 began asking the department about the video, Pugh was suspended without pay.

No timetable has been given on how long the SLED investigation may take.

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Footage of Cop Shooting Man With Raised Hands Stirs Anger In New Jersey

“If you reach for something, you’re going to be f---- dead!” the cop yells at the man, who had a prison record.

By Tom Davis

The shooting of a man with raised hands during a traffic stop is stirring anger in South Jersey.

The video from a police dashboard camera, released Tuesday, shows Bridgeton officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley in a Dec. 30 stop of a Jaguar with a driver and passenger inside. Police say the car was stopped for rolling through a stop sign, but the situation quickly escalates after officers apparently discover a gun in the glove compartment.

Days, standing outside the passenger door with his gun drawn, yells at the passenger, Jerame Reid, “Show me your hands!”

“If you reach for something, you’re going to be f---- dead!” he yells in the video.

When Reid gets out of the car with what appear to be his hands in front his chest, both Days and Worley open fire.

Reid, 36, had spent 13 years in prison for shooting at a State Police trooper, and was arrested in 2014 on drug charges, according to police records reviewed by NJ.com.

Days, the publication reported, was one of the arresting officers in the incident.

The shooting has led to protests in Bridgeton, about a 45-minute drive south from Philadelphia, and comes after months of angry demonstrations and rallies over the killings of unarmed black men by white police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo.

Days is black, and his partner is white. The passenger was black, and so was the driver, Letroy Tutt, according to the New York Post. Both officers have been placed on leave and the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating,

“The video speaks for itself that at no point was Jerame Reid a threat and he possessed no weapon on his person,” Walter Hudson, chair and founder of the civil rights group the National Awareness Alliance, told the Post. “He complied with the officer and the officer shot him.”

The video was released through open records requests from the South Jersey Times and the Press of Atlantic City.

It shows the police stop beginning calmly enough, with Days approaching the passenger side, introducing himself and telling the driver that he has been pulled over for running a stop sign.

A few seconds after Days asks the driver to get his driver’s license, the officer is seen pulling his gun.

“Show me your hands, show me your (expletive) hands!” Days says.

When Worley approaches the driver’s side with his gun drawn, the driver extends his arms out of the window.

“Get ‘em out the car, Rog. We’ve got a gun in his glove compartment,” Days said.

The officer continues to shout.

“I’m telling you, I’m telling you! Keep your (expletive) hands right there. Eh, eh, Jerame, you reach for something, you’re going to be (expletive) dead,” Days said.

Days shouts, “He’s reaching! He’s reaching!”

Unclear is what Reid was doing inside the car, but when he gets out of the car with what appear to be his hands in front his chest, he’s shot dead.

Conrad J. Benedetto, the attorney representing Reid’s family, told NJ.com that the dead man’s wife, Lawanda Hartsfield-Reid, viewed dashcam video Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s traumatic,” said Benedetto, of Philadelphia. “ ... She is extremely upset. To see someone that close to you, it is a powerful thing. There is a lot of shock value to it.”

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

CPD officer suspended for "Improper Use of Force"

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WRCB) -

An officer involved in a shooting back in October of 2014 has been suspended without pay.

Chattanooga Chief of Police Fred Fletcher issued the suspension for CPD Officer Alex Olson Wednesday.

The incident in question began in the 3300 block of Windsor Court, where Olson was attempting a traffic stop and the suspect took off.

After a short chase the suspect rammed the officer's car trying to get away, that's when the officer fired four shots at the suspect.

The officer was placed on administrative leave as per CPD policy.

After an investigation by Internal Affairs, the Administrative Review Committee and the officer's chain of command determined the officer displayed "Improper Use of Force - Discharge of Firearm"

Olson has been suspended for 30 days without pay - the maximum suspension allowed by City of Chattanooga law.

Stevie Phillips, an attorney at Davis & Hoss, P.C. who is representing Olson, sent a statement to Channel 3 Thursday morning, saying "The decision to punish Officer Olson is not supported by federal law or policy."

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Cop Fired Before Car Struck His Leg, Witness Says

Jessica Hernandez, 17, was shot dead by two Denver, Colorado, police officers Monday morning. Reports state that she drove what police say was a stolen Honda with four other teens inside down an alleyway. On Tuesday, one of those teenage passengers came forward to offer details of the tragedy — details that directly contradict a key element of the police account.

According to police, the car driven by Jessica “Jessie” Hernandez struck one of the officers in the leg, causing an injury that would send the officer to a hospital for treatment. When the car struck the officer, that’s when the two cops opened fire on the vehicle, striking Jessie Hernandez multiple times and killing the fun-loving, outgoing teen, the oldest of six siblings in what people describe is a tight-knit family.

But another teen girl who was inside the car as it rolled down the darkened alley tells a different story. Speaking to Denver’s Channel 9 News, the teen — who declined to be named publicly due to the explosiveness of the case which has already sparked protests in Denver — recounted a sequence of events that casts the response of the police in a less favorable light.

In fact, the girl said, one of the officers opened fire on the vehicle before one of the cops was struck on the leg by the car, and the only reason the car went out of control and hit the police officer was that Jessica Hernandez was already shot.

“When the cops walked up, they were on [Jessica’s] side of the car, and they shot the window and they shot her,” the witness told the TV station. “That’s when she wrecked, and that’s when the cop got hit.”

Once Hernandez was hit, she lost control of the vehicle, accidentally pinning the officer against a fence and breaking his leg, the teen recounted.

A medical examiner’s report said that Jessica Hernandez was shot “multiple times.” Otherwise, police have released very little information about the shooting that killed the beloved teen. They have not specified from whom the car was allegedly stolen, nor whether the officers felt threatened in some other way.

But Jose Hernandez, father of the slain teenager, finds that latter scenario improbable.

“She’s always happy,” the distraught dad told The Denver Post. “You know what her sister says? She wouldn’t even kill a fly.”

According to the parent of one of the other teenagers in the car, the group had been sitting in the car most of the night, talking and listening to music, not acting fearful that they would be caught in a stolen car.

The killing of Jessica Hernandez marked the fourth incident in the past seven months in which a Denver police officer fired into a moving vehicle.

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Texas Cops Assaulted Disabled Veteran, Never Told Him He Was Under Arrest, Lawsuit Claims

Ed Krayewski|

dashcam screencapPolice in Round Rock, Texas, said they got a call about a drunk man trying to ride his motorcycle when they approached 59-year-old George Trammell, a disabled veteran near his motorcycle. According to a lawsuit filed by Trammell the seven (!) officers at the scene physically assaulted him during the stop and never actually told him he was under arrest. Dash cam footage of the incident and a mug shot taken of Trammell that night also provide evidence of police using violence, although Trammell does not appear to offer physical resistance on tape.

KVUE reports:

The Round Rock Police Department declined to comment on the lawsuit, but in an arrest warrant the officers said they could smell alcohol on Trammell's breath and he pulled away while being handcuffed.

The police department initially charged Trammell with resisting arrest, but the charge was later dismissed.

"They were overly aggressive, used excessive force, and because of that excessive force they violated his civil rights," Casey said.

Casey said the officers should have asked Trammell about his disabilities, conducted a field sobriety test, and explained that he was being arrested. Instead, he said they acted hastily, and now wants them to pay for his client's injuries.

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Feds Arrest New Jersey Cop for Beating Handcuffed Suspect With Flashlight

Domenico Lillo could spend up to 20 years in prison for falsifying records.

By Patrice Peck

A former police officer of Bayonne, New Jersey, has been suspended without pay after being arrested by federal agents and charged for abusing the civil right of a suspect in 2013.

Domenico Lillo, 44, allegedly beat a handcuffed Brandon Walsh, 26, in the face with a flashlight several times while he and other officers were executing a warrant, the Grio reports. The assault left the victim permanently disfigured.

“When you’re going to do something like that, this is what gives all police officers a black eye,” said Mayor Jimmy Davis.

According to the Grio, the federal indictment reportedly states that Lillo “knowingly concealed, covered up, falsified, and made false entries on a Bayonne Police Department Use of Force Report about the arrest…by not checking the box marked ‘Strike/Use of Baton or other object.”

If convicted, Lillo could spend 10 years in prison for the excessive force charge and up to 20 years for falsifying records.

“Officer Lillo’s assault of Mr. Walsh can only be categorized as vicious and cowardly,” said Joel Silberman, Walsh's attorney. “His arrest sends a clear message that this type of abuse will not be tolerated.”

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WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

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Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

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Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Officer Who Fired Stun Gun at 61-Year-Old Woman Suspended

Officer Who Fired Stun Gun at 61-Year-Old Woman Suspended

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A police officer in northern Florida is being suspended without pay for one month for firing his stun gun in the back of a 61-year-old woman.

A video taken last fall showed Tallahassee Officer Terry Mahan firing his stun gun at Viola Young as she walked away from him. She fell face-first to the ground.

Where's the story? 2 Points Mentioned

Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo announced Monday that police had concluded an internal investigation into the incident.

DeLeo said Mahan's actions were legal but they did not meet department expectations.

Young was charged in September with resisting and obstructing an officer without violence. Prosecutors soon dropped the charges.

Charges were also dropped against three of Young's relatives arrested at the same time.

The officer who made the initial arrests was suspended for two days.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

Macerich,

Glory Days Grill,

Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

Level3 Communications,

Verizon

Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

Prince William Convention and Visitors Bureau and

Booz Allen Hamilton.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

Cleveland officers fabricated story to justify breaking man's ribs, according to lawsuit: Forcing Change

A lawsuit filed by James Termini accuses a Cleveland police officer of punching him needlessly. He and another officer then made up a story to justify the attack, a complaint says. (Brandon Blackwell, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

By Ryllie Danylko

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man who called Cleveland police to report a crime got no help from the officers and several broken ribs, according to a lawsuit filed in the November 2005 incident.

James Termini, 56, said two Third District officers made up a a false story in order to arrest and attack him, according to a lawsuit he eventually settled with the city for $2,500 in 2007.

ABOUT THIS SERIES

Northeast Ohio Media Group and The Plain Dealer reviewed the details of nearly 70 lawsuits against Cleveland officers that resulted in taxpayer payouts over the past decade. The lawsuits alleged that officers used excessive force, made wrongful arrests or needlessly escalated violence during encounters with citizens. Though the city admitted no wrongdoing in settling many of the lawsuits, taken as a whole, the patterns that emerge from the cases match closely with the patterns of police behavior that were described in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. The city has declined the opportunity to discuss the individual cases in more detail. In response to questions, the city released a statement contending that it seriously considers all allegations of excessive force by officers. This, according to the city, has resulted in a steady drop in the annual number of incidents.

• Some police settlements confidential; criminal charges deter some from calling out police brutality, lawsuits say

• Driver alleges he was needlessly beaten during traffic stop by Cleveland police

• Lawsuit settled after man sitting in car shot in the back by officer

• Cleveland officer punches disabled veteran, high school teacher outside Indians game

• Officers fabricated story to justify breaking man's ribs, according to lawsuit

• Find more cases

• Read more about this series

Termini called police to report that two men were using drugs and harassing him as he worked at his East Side mechanic shop.

When police didn't show up after more than a half hour, Termini said he put in another call, and then a third after 30 more minutes without a response.

Officers Tim Guerra and Daniel Lentz eventually arrived and began talking to Termini, who was smoking a cigarette. The officers told him to put out his cigarette and handle the problem himself, the complaint says.

Termini said he put out the cigarette and asked the officers for their business cards, according to the lawsuit.

The two officers told Termini that they couldn't give him cards because the department couldn't afford them. Termini persisted saying that he wanted the officers' cards in case something happened to him as he removed the trespassers from his shop. Termini said he could testify as to which officers denied him help.

The two officers got out of their car and asked if he was "getting smart with them," according to Termini. One of the officers punched him in the chest, knocking him to the ground, the suit says.

"What do you think about that?" one of the officers allegedly said. "You are going to jail."

The officers handcuffed Termini and started discussing how they would lie to justify the arrest.

"Let's just say he blew smoke in my face," one of the officers is accused of saying.

When he was released the next morning, Termini said the officers laughed at him for being hunched over due to an injury inflicted by the officer.

Termini went to Marymount Hospital the next day because he was in extreme pain and spitting up blood. X-rays revealed he had several broken ribs.

He was eventually charged with intoxicated disorderly conduct, but he was cleared of the charge in 2006.

Termini filed a lawsuit accusing the officers of abusing their power as police officers to assault him and create a cover-up story, among other offenses.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

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NYPD officer charged with assault in platform dispute with MTA worker

NEW YORK (WABC) --

An NYPD officer surrendered Friday morning and is facing charges in connection to the shoving of an MTA worker on a Bronx subway platform.

The 28-year-old victim was bear hugged during a dispute on December 23 at the Tremont Avenue station.

Police released surveillance video of the suspect, who was later identified as off-duty Officer Mirjan Lolja.

He turned himself in for questioning and was suspended from the force.

The officer, assigned to the 25th Precinct in Harlem, told investigators he had gotten into a dispute with the station agent.

Lolja is charged with assault, official misconduct and harassment. He was arraigned and released on his own recognizance.

His next court date is March 11.

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

New Haven citizens want ‘subpoena power’ to curb police brutality

By Evan Lips, New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN >> A passionate crowd filled City Hall chambers Thursday night to participate in a public hearing concerning how to revamp the Civilian Review Board, the go-to panel for residents who believe they’ve been mistreated by police.

Testimony from residents including Emma Jones, whose son Malik was killed in the city in 1997 by an East Haven police officer following a pursuit, focused largely upon the same demands: the next edition of the Civilian Review Board must have more authority, including the power to issue subpoenas.

“My baby son Malik Jones was brutally gunned down Ku Klux Klan-style as he sat in a vehicle, boxed-in and unarmed,” Jones told the aldermanic Joint Public Safety Committee. “Since that time I’ve made it my obligation to do whatever is possible to make sure officers are held accountable for their behavior.

Jones was 21. The officer who shot him returned to his beat four months later. He was not charged with a crime, following state and federal probes that found the shooting justified after Malik Jones drove his car toward the officer.

The city’s Civilian Review Board has not reviewed a complaint since “May or June 2014,” Chief Administrative Officer Mike Carter told the committee. Minutes posted online, however, show that the board met for 40 minutes in August. Carter also told the committee that budget cuts are the reason the CRB’s coordinator position has been reduced to a 20-hour-per-week job, the chief reason why the board hasn’t met in months.

The board, created under the administration of Mayor John DeStefano in 2001, has been criticized by Jones and others in the past for a lack of authority. The board, however, will remain on hiatus until Alder Brian Wingate, D-29, and other alders write a new ordinance.

Jones and others, including activist Kerry Ellington, are pushing alders to create a review board that holds the power to exercise subpoenas and independent of the Police Department. Acting Corporation Counsel John Rose, however, said subpoena power is “no good” unless it can be enforced. Rose referred to state legislation dating back more than 100 years which essentially makes “municipalities creatures of the state,” meaning municipalities “have no power except for what the state gives them.”

“The power to issue subpoenas has to come from legislation,” he said. “That legislation dates back to 1899.”

Rose noted that the legislation grants the president of the Board of Alders with the ability to issue a subpoena but ultimately enforcement is at a judge’s discretion.

“It’s been my experience that the police officer will invariably never testify over the danger of being implicated in a crime,” Rose said.

He has experience working in Hartford’s corporation counsel office. Rose said he’s never seen Hartford subpoena a police officer.

“In Hartford, the police chief is given the authority to accept or decline the recommendation of the Civilian Review Board and that’s it, that’s the end,” Rose said.

Ellington pointed out, however, that the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, recently issued an executive order granting that city’s CRB with subpoena power.

Several residents who spoke expressed frustration over the lack of the board’s authority. Norman Clement, an activist associated with the ANSWER Coalition, helped organize protests in the city following the decision not to indict Ferguson, Missouri, police Officer Darren Wilson. On Thursday he said New Haven is “in a unique position” to affect change that would likely garner notice from the rest of the country.

“I’ve been alive from Selma, Alabama, to Ferguson, and I haven’t seen a lot of change in that time,” Clement told the committee.

Yale University student Jacob Wasserman used his time at the microphone to speak about an incident last weekend in which a Yale police officer detained a student at gunpoint because the student matched the description of a robbery suspect.

The student turned out to be the son of Charles Blow, a black New York Times columnist. Blow’s son told him about the incident and Blow proceeded to publicize the event. Yale officials later pointed out that the officer, too, is black.

Wasserman noted that the event might not have received any attention had it not involved the son of someone in Blow’s position.

George E. Carter, who once served on the CRB, reminded alders that “election time is coming” and said people will “vote you out” if changes aren’t made.

Wingate pointed out that the reason for the hearing was to determine which changes need to be made. One change that would be beneficial, according to Carter, would be for his office to no longer handle complaints since the police and fire departments report to his office.

Thursday night’s meeting did not involve a vote. Alder Jessica Holmes, D-9, said the committee will review the public’s input and address suggestions during its next meeting.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

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Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.

City asked to look into police misconduct allegations

Santa Fe police Chief Eric Garcia and Sgt. Matthew Martinez in June at the state Attorney’s General’s second annual Summit on Community Violence. Courtesy New Mexico Attorney General’s Office

City asked to look into police misconduct allegations By Daniel J. Chacón

The city of Santa Fe has been asked to investigate allegations that the police union president mishandled evidence money and that police Chief Eric Garcia tried to sweep it under the rug to protect his friend.

The request for an investigation came from one of the police department’s own, Lt. Robert Vasquez, a veteran officer who asked City Manager Brian Snyder to intervene.

Vasquez claims in a seven-page memo to Snyder that Garcia tried to obstruct separate investigations into missing evidence and other policy violations involving Sgt. Matthew Martinez, president of the Santa Fe Police Officers Association.

“Based on my observations and conversations with Chief Garcia, I believe he is hindering and interjecting himself in an administrative investigation,” Vasquez wrote in a Dec. 21 memo, which was obtained by The New Mexican after the city rejected a public records request for the document. “Chief Garcia’s intentional interjection and attempts to persuade the administrative investigation in this matter does not provide a fair and unbiased administrative investigation.”

Asked about the memo last week, Vasquez declined to comment, calling it a “personnel matter.”

Vasquez claims in the memo that Garcia transferred him out of the Criminal Investigations Division after he initiated an investigation against Martinez.

“I’m not petitioning the involuntary transfer,” Vasquez told the city manager in the memo. “I’m identifying the involuntary transfer by Chief Garcia as a tactic to remove me from following through with the complaint involving Sergeant Martinez.”

Vasquez claims in the memo that Martinez mishandled a wallet and money taken as evidence after a Sept. 6 arrest of a Santa Fe man and a 17-year-old on suspicion of heroin trafficking.

Martinez listed a wallet, backpack and $560 on an evidence tag after the arrests but never entered the items into the evidence locker as required by department policy, according to Vasquez’s memo. When confronted about the missing evidence, Martinez told Vasquez he had stored the evidence in his locker “because he wanted to give it back to the owner, which is contrary to the evidence log he submitted and Santa Fe Police Department rules and regulations,” according to Vasquez’s memo.

After he filed a formal complaint against Martinez, Garcia told Vasquez that “the matter had been addressed,” the memo states.

“I understand Sergeant Martinez met with his staff already on this topic, check with Sergeant Martinez and see what resolution was done. I am recommending a refresher training for all our staff,” the chief wrote to Vasquez, according to Vasquez’s memo.

Vasquez’s memo, a detailed narrative with specific dates, portrays Garcia as a police chief who is willing to look the other way when leaders of the police union break the rules, and it depicts Martinez as an officer who is either corrupt or so sloppy in his work that his “evidence tags are always incorrect.”

It is not the first time Martinez has been implicated in the mishandling of evidence. In 2007, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in an affidavit that he suspected Martinez “played a role in the theft of money” from a 24-year-old man arrested in 2006. Martinez was never charged.

Police and city officials, including Garcia, declined to comment for this story. Police spokeswoman Lt. Andrea Dobyns said the City Attorney’s Office had advised the chief and others “not to say anything about this.”

Martinez, who joined the police department in August 1999 and has been the police union president since December 2013, also declined a request for an interview.

“No thank you,” Martinez said Friday in a text message.

The chief and leaders of the police union have formed a strong relationship since Garcia became chief last year.

Under the previous police chief, Ray Rael, the police union butted heads with the administration. Before leaving his job, Rael called police officers “some of the hardest-working individuals” but “the biggest gripers in the world.”

The union fought Rael over some of his policies, including the distance that officers could drive their police cruisers home and the scheduling of five eight-hour workdays. At the urging of the police union, Garcia changed both policies, expanding the number of miles for take-home vehicles and switching back to four 10-hour workdays.

Daniel J. Chacón

WE NEED TO CHANGE THE COPS, NOT ENCOURAGE THEIR AWFUL BEHAVIOR

Boycott the following companies for hosting the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games

Apple Federal Credit Union,

LMI,

Noblis,

B.F. Saul Company,

Galls LLC,

Sage Communications,

Macerich,

Glory Days Grill,

Reston Limousine,

City of Fairfax, Karin’s Florist,

NOVA Media Services,

Clyde’s Restaurant Group,

Level3 Communications,

Verizon

Globe, Dewberry,

IMC, ESPN 980,

Serco,

Loudoun County,

Grant Thornton,

Prince William Convention and Visitors Bureau and

Booz Allen Hamilton.

Bottom line, if politicians don’t fear that you can harm their careers, then you don’t exist. They don’t see you, they don’t hear you. You don’t matter.