Wichitah KS cop pleads guilty to sexually battering at least 2 women while on duty. He resigned after being charged. [0] bit.ly/A5ctbE
The Fairfax County Police officer Walter R. Fasci/ Sean McGlone award for sober living. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality
Memphis TN cop suspended after arrested on DUI & refusal to take breath test charges after crashing into embankment [0] bit.ly/ADT2K6
Nashville TN cop suspended after arrest on DUI charges after found asleep in car during traffic tie-up [0] bit.ly/ywwiiy
Memphis TN cop arrested on possession w/intent charges for allegedly trying to buy 10 kilos of cocaine in uniform [0] on.kthv.com/wiKUWo
Redondo Beach CA cop charged with tipping off fellow cop about drug raid on house he bought drugs from [0] bit.ly/wla9qY
Fairfax County Police Officer “Crazy Moe” Mohammed Oluwa Jihad on your ass. Fairfax County Police. Police Brutality
Oakland CA cop shown on video beating an occupy protester with a baton after throwing him on the ground, right after that another cop points out the person recording it and calls for him to be arrested next. [4] bit.ly/yOftIv
This was just one of the incidents where Oakland CA police mass arrests of over 400 during an Occupy protest that were criticized, all in the wake of a federal judge’s rebuke against the department. [3] http://bit.ly/xl1vob
4 New York NY (Bronx) cops and a sergeant are being investigated over the videotaped beating of a black teen and the arrest of his family who complained at the police station. The video also shows one cop pepperspray or, at least threaten to pepperspray, the person recording the incident. [4] bit.ly/AbVtm8
Fairfax County Police Officer Larry A. Jackson award for false arrest. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality
Dona Ana Co NM loses a lawsuit for $22mil to a man who was kept in solitary confinement at jail for 2 years after his arrest on DUI charges, of which he was never convicted over. [3] bit.ly/w4tPuu
Los Angeles Co CA sued by comedian claiming deputy falsely arrested him for DUI after his car was hit by DUI driver [3] bit.ly/yJFnep
The Fairfax County Police Officer Jeffrey Hand Award for Creative Income Production. Fairfax County Police. Police Brutality
New Orleans, Gretna, Orleans Parish, Plaquemines Parish LA cops in task force investigated for stealing from suspect[0] bit.ly/AC2oVI
Broward Co FL deputy sentenced to 30days +$5k fine for insurance fraud involving Def Leppard concert tickets [0] thesent.nl/xOv6AdFairfax County Police Officer Amanda Perry award for Safe Driving. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality
2 Putnam Co FL deputies fired for racing at 120+MPH while responding to nothing more than a call complaining about noisy golf ccarts. [0] bit.ly/y7WYRF
Prescott AZ settles suit for $45k to pedestrian who suffered leg fractures when he was hit by cop “blinded by sun” [0] bit.ly/Av3qdW
idiots at work
New York NY police face arbitration in a complaint that a cop suffered retaliation for not meeting his stop & frisk quota that the NYPD is still insisting doesn’t exist despite a slew of evidence and cases showing otherwise. [3] nyp.st/wgbGmG
San Fernando CA acting police chief is on leave while investigated for allegedly trying to fix a congress staffer’s traffic ticket [0] lat.ms/wmOaHmThis weeks child molestation charges by your local police
Santa Maria CA cop died after he was shot by an officer when he allegedly drew his service weapon & fired it while he was being arrested on suspicion of sexual misconduct with a minor [0] bit.ly/Ag84gR
Clute TX cop working as a school resource officer is the subject of a lawsuit after he was given a plea deal reducing charges to official oppression for sexually assaulting 18-year-old student [3] bit.ly/Ai7BAU
Clute TX cop working as a school resource officer is the subject of a lawsuit after he was given a plea deal reducing charges to official oppression for sexually assaulting 18-year-old student [3] bit.ly/Ai7BAU
Creepy cop behavior
Paso Robles CA police chief is being accused of sexually assaulting several of her officers and staff who also say she would threaten them with trumped up criminal charges if they talked. [3] bit.ly/wNelZP
The Fairfax County Police Officer Jeffrey Hand Award for Creative Income Production. Fairfax County Police. Police Brutality
San Ramon CA cop pleads guilty to 9 felonies in the Central Contra Costa Narc Enforcement corruption scandal. [0] bit.ly/Ao1yjA
Marvell AR cop pleads guilty to money laundering & extortion charges after his arrest in a sting op that busted 5 cops & 70 people. He’s the second to plead so far. [0] on.kthv.com/zkw0F3
Georgia State trooper was arrested on allegations he stole from a security job he worked on the side. He resigned in Dec after the initial investigation into the allegations. [0] bit.ly/zXzAjGWilliamsport PA cop fined after pleading guilty to failing to report a gift in a plea deal dropping 7 other charges including perjury. [0] bit.ly/y5NFUI
This week’s candidates for the Brian Sonnenberg Peaceful Resolution to Conflict Center Award. Fairfax County Police. police brutality
Charlotte-Mecklenburg NC cop investigated for putting dog feces in neighbor’s mailbox. The investigation started after he was allegedly assaulted when confronted after he was caught in the act. [1] bit.ly/x3Mbbr
Tuscaloosa AL cop was arrested on domestic violence criminal mischief charges after allegedly destroying property & setting fire to his garage during a dispute. [0] bit.ly/Ako7MC Ripley MS cop resigns after he & his wife charged w/misd animal neglect over 2 starving horses found in pasture, one of which had to be put to sleep. [0] on.thec-l.com/ABLBGh
Houston TX police homicide detective suspended while investigated on allegations of bigamy made by his 2 alleged wives [0] bit.ly/xc3InH
The Fairfax County Police officer Walter R. Fasci/ Sean McGlone award for sober living. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality
Macomb Co MI sheriff’s sgt under investigation on suspicion of drunk driving after rollover accident w/son & bro [1] bit.ly/wMNHPw
The officer Christian Chamberlain Award for “Fuck you, I’ll get away with it anyway” Fairfax County police . Police brutality
San Bernardino CA settles suit for $575k to the family of a man who was shot to death after a police chase. The city blamed the judge in that case for admitting evidence that the man was shot in the back and back of the head, that and a witness changing testimony. [0] bit.ly/wfHUaS
Clairton PA cop is being investigated on allegations made by witnesses that he severely injured a 76yr-old man by slamming him to ground after dragging him from his car during a traffic stop. [1] http://cbsloc.al/Akj38A
Poplarville MS settled suit for an undisclosed amount to an unarmed man who was tasered & shot at a DUI roadblock when cops tried to yank him from his car while his seatbelt was on because, they say, they thought he had a gun. Apparently he didn’t commit any crime. [3] bit.ly/wcLFkt
Dallas TX police are being sued by a man claiming cops brutally beat him and left him severely injured during a raid on his home that didn’t yield anything illegal. He was never charged and there is no record of the raid as police are apparently denying knowledge of it ever occurring. [5] bit.ly/yexivk
Vancouver BC police are being sued by a man who needed 100 staples after a police dog attacked him during his arrest where he claims police took their time pulling it off him. Prosecutors dropped charges against him because of the injuries. [3] bit.ly/A60vgC
Prince Albert Canada police officer will have no criminal record or punishment thanks to his plea deal on assault charges he faced for stomping on a woman’s head during an arrest. [0] bit.ly/zVuYEQ
Monroe Co NY settles an excessive force suit for $90k to a man who was 15 at the time of the unspecified incident. They also settled a suit for $500k to a woman left injured when a cop rear ended her as he was reading his dashboard computer. [0] on.rocne.ws/A6rXPK
3 Houston TX cops are accused of beating a woman & taking her cell phone memory card for recording police roughly arresting her husband. [5] http://bit.ly/zMjMGa
Clairton PA cop is being investigated on allegations he severely injured a 76yr-old man by slamming him to the ground during a traffic stop where police say they wanted to arrest his passenger on a warrant. [1] cbsloc.al/Akj38A
Cleveland TX cop is being investigated for jabbing a kneeling and handcuffed detainee in the stomach during a traffic stop arrest caught on dashcam video [2] bit.ly/ynPeAK
Official hints at 'minor violation' as police refuse to comment on Occupy abuse investigation
Some Charlottesville city councilors have suggested that more oversight of the police department may be in order as most city and police officials still refuse to indicate whether any police misconduct was found during an investigation into a complaint filed last year by an Occupy Charlottesville activist.
“In the end, I believe the [Police Chief Timothy J. Longo’s] investigation of the incident was thorough,” said City Manager Maurice Jones in an email. “His response to the relatively minor violation of the policy, specific to that evening’s plan, was appropriate.”
“I tend to agree with those who say there should at least be some indication of whether or not a violation of policies or procedures was determined to have occurred, and what, generally speaking, the corrective action was,” Councilor Dave Norris said in a Monday interview. “I do think it would be helpful to release that kind of information without getting involved in naming individual names.”
An internal police investigation into allegations of excessive force was completed weeks ago, but there’s still no official word as to whether or not the occupiers’ claims had any validity.
“I can only assume that if it had been some sort of finding of gross criminal negligence that it would have been publicized,” said Councilor Kristin Szakos. “What I hope that means is that it’s a personnel issue… I don’t know what that says about its seriousness. I think it probably is good for someone to know that.”
Mayor Satyendra Huja said the lack of action due to the investigation has led him to assume the complaints were baseless.
“I think the investigation was done and I presume it was therefore different than what was said,” Huja said. “If there was a basis for it, it would’ve moved forward, which it hasn’t.”
In the days leading up the late-night confrontation in Lee Park on Nov. 30 during which 18 protesters were arrested, city and police officials offered assurances that any action taken against the occupy encampment in Lee Park would be safe and professional. Activist Shelly Stern, who was found guilty of trespassing last week along with all the other arrestees, characterized her treatment that night as “abuse.”
Stern cried out during her arrest, prompting a brief rush toward a police barricade on 2nd Street NE. Other activists were allowed to check on Stern while she was in police custody, and occupier Larry Bishop, serving as police liaison, reported that night that Stern was fine, but may have bruising on her face in the morning.
Stern filed a formal complaint against police after telling her fellow activists she suffered neck pain after a metal rod was pushed into a pressure point during her arrest.
The accusations against the police department were repeated in a highly public forum on Dec. 5, when the Occupy Charlottesville group visited council chambers. Public comments at that meeting prompted Jones to assure the chamber that the allegations were being taken “very seriously.”
Stern met with city Chief Longo on Jan. 20, but officials are refusing to publicly disclose what they told her about the investigation results. Prior to her meeting with Longo, Stern said she wanted to take some time to absorb what he had to say before speaking about it publicly. She has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
“I met with the complainant in that case, disclosed our investigative findings, and had what I believe was a thoughtful, productive, and positive discussion,” Longo said in an email. “As the department has not changed its position with regard to release of such information to the public generally, I will not be disclosing any additional information regarding this matter.”
Jones said he was satisfied with Longo’s conclusion, but he also couldn’t speak — even broadly — about the investigation’s outcome.
“The chief did his investigation. I feel satisfied with the level at which the investigation was done and the decisions that he made at the end,” Jones said. “I also feel satisfied that he had a one-on-one conversation with the complainant. And it seemed to be a very good meeting.”
Longo said he has weighed the policy of withholding the results of administrative investigations during his 11 years since he was hired.
“While I am not inclined to change the department’s policy with regard to the release of disciplinary actions or personnel matters generally, I am open to further investigation and discussion with regard to the release of investigative findings to a complainant,” Longo said.
Norris said he sees no downside to releasing more general information without naming the individual officers involved.
“Right now, the current policy is that they don’t release any such information,” Norris said. “I think it would probably serve the community well to at least provide some transparency in terms of the actions that may have taken place.”
The police advisory board has discussed the issue of internal police investigations previously, and Norris said he suspects it may come up again.
“I suspect there will be some discussion and if not a recommendation coming out of that group on that point,” Norris said. “I don’t know that it needs to come necessarily to a City Council level. That’s a decision the police chief can make on his own in consultation with the city manager, as to the level of transparency that they feel is appropriate on cases like this.”
Councilman wants to create a new inspector general's office to oversee the department
Following a string of reports alleging police misconduct, City Councilman Brad Lander said today he wants to create a new inspector general's office to oversee the department. The idea was proposed this morning in a New York Times op-ed written by two lawyers with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's School of Law.
"We all want the NYPD following criminal leads and doing investigations," Lander said in an interview this morning. "But there is a big difference between a specific criminal lead and an investigation and saying some version of 'Hey, we've heard that some Muslims are out to do us harm. Let's surveil them all.'"
Lander, a freshman Democrat who represents Park Slope and helped found the Council's Progressive Caucus, said, "Unfortunately, right now, the NYPD has not given me any confidence, has not given the public any confidence that somebody's paying attention to the difference."
Last summer, the Associated Press began publishing detailed accounts of an NYPD counterterrorism program which included monitoring Moroccan restaurants, tracking Imams and spying on Muslim students at local colleges. Commissioner Ray Kelly has called the stories inaccurate but has not elaborated. In total, there have been 28 A.P. stories and no retractions or corrections.
Kelly's testimony in front of the City Council after the A.P. stories began appearing "raised more questions than it answered," Lander said today.
Lander said he's working out the details with the Brennan Center about how the new I.G.'s office would work. A more formal proposal could be announced in later in the spring.
For now, he described the I.G. as an "internal person, but somebody appointed by the mayor" and "who has access to confidential information who keeps that information confidential." The I.G. would make periodic reports either to the Department of Investigations or the Council, said Lander.
I asked Lander how this watchdog function would differ from what the City Council does. The chairman of the Council's public safety committee, Peter Vallone Jr., has subpoena power, holds hearings about the agency and said he is regularly kept abreast about NYPD's confidential activity.
Lander said the Council should hold more hearings and ask "some big-picture questions," but a more detailed look at specific allegations needs to be handled privately.
"The Council is not the right place to discuss specific leads," Lander said. "The only way to know what they'll find, between a real criminal lead and a vague suspicion, is to talk about that information and the details. And the Council is not the right place for that. We don't have a vehicle for closed-door hearings and we don't have the expertise to evaluate and judge that information anyway."
Asked whether he thought the I.G. should have subpoena power, Lander said he hoped that wouldn't be necessary.
It's not clear Lander's proposal could get through the Council, regardless of how much support it may have among the members. Both the speaker, Christine Quinn, and Vallone have a good working relationship with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the police department. And the mayor hasn't shown any signs of being disatisfied with the oversight mechanisms that are already in place.
Bloomberg recently announced additional staffing for the Mayor's Commission to Combat Police Corruption, but the commission lacks subpoena power and, as Al Baker of the Times wrote, "relies on the department’s good will for relevant information."
The city's Department of Investigations lists the NYPD as one of the agencies that has an "internal" inspector general. The NYPD web site identifies Martin Karopkin as the "Deputy Commissioner [of] Trials with the New York City Police Department."
A 2008 Times story about Karopkin's work shed led on the department's trial-like internal process for determining wrongdoing by officers. The proceedings are open to the public, defendants cannot invoke the right to remain silent and the ruling from the judge—who is appointed by the police commissioner—can be overruled, by the police commissioner.
4-year-old brings nine bags of pot to school
By msnbc.com staff
A 4-year-old boy brought nine bags of pot to his elementary school and pulled them out during snack time, police said. A teacher at Hanover Elementary School in Meriden, Conn., alerted officials to the drug early Tuesday afternoon, according to a report in the Record-Journal. Detective Lt. Mark Walerysiak, a police spokesman, told the newspaper that the child turned over the bags to his teacher.
A 4-year-old boy brought nine bags of pot to his elementary school and pulled them out during snack time, police said. A teacher at Hanover Elementary School in Meriden, Conn., alerted officials to the drug early Tuesday afternoon, according to a report in the Record-Journal. Detective Lt. Mark Walerysiak, a police spokesman, told the newspaper that the child turned over the bags to his teacher.
lets all go home and lock our doors
Prominent novelist Michael Peterson was convicted in 2003 of
beating his wife to death with a fireplace poker, but he, assisted by a
former neighbor, has maintained since then that she was killed by a
rogue owl. In 2008, for the first time, North Carolina state
investigators acknowledged that a microscopic feather was indeed
found in her hair, and in December 2011, Durham County Judge
Orlando Hudson granted Peterson a new trial. Although several owl
experts have declared that the wife's head trauma was consistent
with an owl attack, the judge's decision was based instead on a
finding last year that the state crime lab had mishandled evidence in
34 cases and specifically that an investigator in the Peterson case
had exaggerated his credentials to the jury.
Keith Savinelli, 21, was arrested in Gallatin County, Mont., in December and charged with attempted burglary involving a woman's underwear. When the resident caught
Savinelli in the act, he attempted to talk her out of reporting him by apologizing and handing her his voter registration card, but she called police, anyway.
A 25-year-old man was rescued by fire crews in Tranent, Scotland, in December and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. According to police, four men were attempting to
steal an eight-ton steamroller when the 25-year-old got his leg trapped underneath. The other three fled.
According to police in Bellingham, Wash., William Lane, 22, had yelled slurs at a lesbian couple in the early morning of December 11th and smashed the car window of
one of the women, but she immediately chased him down, tackled him, and held him until help arrived.
Anthony Miranda, 24, was arrested and charged with armed robbery in December in Chicago after unknowingly choosing as his victim an "ultimate fighting"
champion. The "victim" gave Miranda two black eyes and a heavily lacerated face, and, as Miranda drew his gun, overpowered him in such a way that Miranda wound up shooting himself in the ankle.
Janet Knowles, 62, was arrested in January in Jupiter, Fla., for
aggravated assault after allegedly bludgeoning her housemate, 65,
with a hammer as they watched television. The victim said only
that Knowles was "upset with Judge Judy."
Michael Monsour, the former CEO of Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette, Pa., was
charged with assaulting his brother, Dr. William Monsour, in their father's home on New Year's Eve. In an argument, Michael allegedly bit William's nose so hard that he required cosmetic surgery. (Michael's temper remained untempered. The next day,
according to police, Michael sent William an e-mail threatening to
beat him "into blood pudding.")
Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme cost 16,500 investors a total of as much as $18 billion, according to the court-appointed trustee, but at least Madoff is not on death row. In Hangzhou, China, in November, Ji Wenhua and his brother and their father (who were
managers of the Yintai Real Estate and Investment Group) were
aentenced to death after their convictions for cheating 15,000
investors out of the equivalent of $1.1 billion. Prosecutors said the
men had continued to collect money by claiming profits while
losses mounted.
Anti-Theft ID Breakthrough: For people who become stressed
when asked to prove their identities by biometric scans of
fingerprints, hand prints, or eyeballs, Japan's Advanced Institute of
Industrial Technology has developed a chair frame that
authenticates merely by sitting down: a butt-scanner. Professor
Shigeomi Koshimizu's device produces a map of the user's unique
derriere shape, featuring 256 degrees of pressure at 360 different
points and could be used not only to protect vehicles from theft but
also, when connected to a computer, to prevent log-ons by those
with unauthorized posteriors. [TechCrunch blog via PhysOrg.com,
12-26-2011]
beating his wife to death with a fireplace poker, but he, assisted by a
former neighbor, has maintained since then that she was killed by a
rogue owl. In 2008, for the first time, North Carolina state
investigators acknowledged that a microscopic feather was indeed
found in her hair, and in December 2011, Durham County Judge
Orlando Hudson granted Peterson a new trial. Although several owl
experts have declared that the wife's head trauma was consistent
with an owl attack, the judge's decision was based instead on a
finding last year that the state crime lab had mishandled evidence in
34 cases and specifically that an investigator in the Peterson case
had exaggerated his credentials to the jury.
Keith Savinelli, 21, was arrested in Gallatin County, Mont., in December and charged with attempted burglary involving a woman's underwear. When the resident caught
Savinelli in the act, he attempted to talk her out of reporting him by apologizing and handing her his voter registration card, but she called police, anyway.
A 25-year-old man was rescued by fire crews in Tranent, Scotland, in December and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. According to police, four men were attempting to
steal an eight-ton steamroller when the 25-year-old got his leg trapped underneath. The other three fled.
According to police in Bellingham, Wash., William Lane, 22, had yelled slurs at a lesbian couple in the early morning of December 11th and smashed the car window of
one of the women, but she immediately chased him down, tackled him, and held him until help arrived.
Anthony Miranda, 24, was arrested and charged with armed robbery in December in Chicago after unknowingly choosing as his victim an "ultimate fighting"
champion. The "victim" gave Miranda two black eyes and a heavily lacerated face, and, as Miranda drew his gun, overpowered him in such a way that Miranda wound up shooting himself in the ankle.
Janet Knowles, 62, was arrested in January in Jupiter, Fla., for
aggravated assault after allegedly bludgeoning her housemate, 65,
with a hammer as they watched television. The victim said only
that Knowles was "upset with Judge Judy."
Michael Monsour, the former CEO of Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette, Pa., was
charged with assaulting his brother, Dr. William Monsour, in their father's home on New Year's Eve. In an argument, Michael allegedly bit William's nose so hard that he required cosmetic surgery. (Michael's temper remained untempered. The next day,
according to police, Michael sent William an e-mail threatening to
beat him "into blood pudding.")
Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme cost 16,500 investors a total of as much as $18 billion, according to the court-appointed trustee, but at least Madoff is not on death row. In Hangzhou, China, in November, Ji Wenhua and his brother and their father (who were
managers of the Yintai Real Estate and Investment Group) were
aentenced to death after their convictions for cheating 15,000
investors out of the equivalent of $1.1 billion. Prosecutors said the
men had continued to collect money by claiming profits while
losses mounted.
Anti-Theft ID Breakthrough: For people who become stressed
when asked to prove their identities by biometric scans of
fingerprints, hand prints, or eyeballs, Japan's Advanced Institute of
Industrial Technology has developed a chair frame that
authenticates merely by sitting down: a butt-scanner. Professor
Shigeomi Koshimizu's device produces a map of the user's unique
derriere shape, featuring 256 degrees of pressure at 360 different
points and could be used not only to protect vehicles from theft but
also, when connected to a computer, to prevent log-ons by those
with unauthorized posteriors. [TechCrunch blog via PhysOrg.com,
12-26-2011]
Fairfax County Police Officer Larry A. Jackson award for false arrest
Warren OH settles suit for $100k to the family of 3 kids who were held at gunpoint in their own yard by a cop mistook the playing kids for suspects. [0] bit.ly/zfomUR
Hamilton Twp OH settles suit for $350k to family & their friends who were subjected to unconstitutional raid looking for underage drinkers at a party. Police tried to justify the raid by having a cop’s relative, who lived in another county, call in a noise complaint. [0] bit.ly/yewUxs
Hamilton Twp OH settles suit for $350k to family & their friends who were subjected to unconstitutional raid looking for underage drinkers at a party. Police tried to justify the raid by having a cop’s relative, who lived in another county, call in a noise complaint. [0] bit.ly/yewUxs
Police Officer Arrested in Staten Island for Theft and Misconduct
STATEN ISLAND — A 39-year-old cop has been busted for stealing two iPads, sources said Tuesday.
Anthony Rivera was arrested Monday for grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and official misconduct, police said.
A source said Rivera stole two iPads from a vehicle that had been under police control. The NYPD's internal affairs bureau investigated him.
The arrest comes as the NYPD and its commissioner, Ray Kelly, are embroiled in other controversies.
Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne has been in the hot seat for providing inaccurate information about the screening of an anti-Muslim film to trainees, while Kelly's son, Greg Kelly, is being investigated over rape allegations.
Video: Cops Beat Bronx Teen, D.A. Launches Investigation
The Bronx D.A. and NYPD Internal Affairs are investigating officers caught on video beating a Bronx teenager during a drug arrest on Thursday. NY1 is first with the story, and reports that Jatiek Reed, 19, was arrested last week on charges of robbery, possession of marijuana and crack cocaine and assaulting a police officer. This video shows part of the arrest, with police beating Reed with batons and kicking him as he lies on his side on the sidewalk: According to the criminal complaint, an officer needed stitches "to close a cut on his nose." But Reed's family is planning to sue the city, and his father tells NY1, "This so-called assault on an officer, which we all know never took place. Even... if it had happened and if he hit this officer, no one ever saw that. And it still doesn't call for the abuse that they put on my son. A sergeant was there allowing all of this abuse to take place in his presence."
After the arrest, Reed's mother, brother, and friend went to the precinct station house to confront officers about the incident, and they were arrested as well. The NYPD claims they attacked officers, but they deny that. "They refused to take him back to the hospital and they wouldn't give him no medicine or anything," Reed's mother tells NY1. "He has staples in his head, he has staples in his arm, his eyes were black, his whole entire back is black, blue, purple."
And on Facebook, one "Rebel Diaz" has been trying to spread word about the incident, writing, "The kid's name is Jatiek Reed, he is a high school senior expecting to graduate this May. He was unarmed and stopped for no reason. He is currently in jail ...along with his family who were arrested after going to bail him out. They attempted to mace Trevor, the guy filming. THIS IS CRAZY AS HELL. THEY LOCKED UP THE FAMILY AND HAVE BEEN HARASSING THE YOUTH WHO FILMED THE VIDEO..."
Memphis Cop Busted for DUI
Updated: Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:36 PM CST
Published : Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:36 PM CST
Published : Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:36 PM CST
Memphis, Tn - A Memphis police officer is behind bars for DUI.
Monday morning MPD booked 31-year-old Roger Williams after he crashed into a fence on American Way near Perkins. It was a one vehicle accident and Officer Williams was the only one injured.
Williams came to a stop less than a hundred feet behind the home of a 88-year-old man with Alzheimer's.
According to the police report, Williams was headed west bound on American Way when he crossed traffic and kept going into a concrete embankment and a man's fence around 3:15 AM.
Responding officers said when they arrived on the scene, Williams was walking away from his vehicle and seemed unsteady on his feet.
Williams told them he was an off duty officer and had fallen asleep behind the wheel of his car. But, when investigators smelled alcohol on his breath, Williams confessed to having two beers.
Williams was charged with DUI and refusal to submit to a blood alcohol test. He's been relieved of duty with pay pending the outcome of MPD's investigation.
Williams came to a stop less than a hundred feet behind the home of a 88-year-old man with Alzheimer's.
According to the police report, Williams was headed west bound on American Way when he crossed traffic and kept going into a concrete embankment and a man's fence around 3:15 AM.
Responding officers said when they arrived on the scene, Williams was walking away from his vehicle and seemed unsteady on his feet.
Williams told them he was an off duty officer and had fallen asleep behind the wheel of his car. But, when investigators smelled alcohol on his breath, Williams confessed to having two beers.
Williams was charged with DUI and refusal to submit to a blood alcohol test. He's been relieved of duty with pay pending the outcome of MPD's investigation.
Officer Arrests Tarnishing Memphis Police Department's Image
MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Drunk driving and kilos of cocaine. With two Memphis cops arrested within days of each other, Memphians are losing faith in the men and women in blue.
It seems like bad cops are coming out of the woodwork. The President of the Memphis Police Association, Michael Williams, said cops behind bars is nothing new - it's just coming to light in Memphis.
"A couple years ago we had the same thing happen; the FBI came in and did a 'Tarnished Blue' incident as they were arresting officers involved in activities that aren't conducive to being a police officer," he said. "Everybody's not geared to be a police officer. For those that aren't, they don't need to be here. The majority of the officers for MPD are hard workers, they're honest and they want to do their job."
But Memphians aren't so sure.
"Police officer caught with cocaine? They're supposed to be helping us," said Memphis resident Michael Parker. "I don't want to speak about all of them, some of them think they can abuse their authority… they do whatever and get away with it."
"Do I trust them? To a point," said Kim Ly. "They have some officers that's good, some but not all of them."
Memphian Tim Thompson noted, "They've lowered their requirements; it's so hard to get policemen, sometimes you get some bad elements in there… but it will come around."
Williams said the arrests are good and bad, and will eventually lead to a better department.
"I'm very discouraged when I see officers that are under investigation," Williams said. "We come on and we want to see the best in everybody, but everybody's not cut out to be police officers. But at the same time it's a good thing what Director Armstrong is doing because the citizens deserve to have the best protection."
Williams also said if the city continues to take benefits from officers, it will push the good ones out and won't attract the right caliber of candidates.
It seems like bad cops are coming out of the woodwork. The President of the Memphis Police Association, Michael Williams, said cops behind bars is nothing new - it's just coming to light in Memphis.
"A couple years ago we had the same thing happen; the FBI came in and did a 'Tarnished Blue' incident as they were arresting officers involved in activities that aren't conducive to being a police officer," he said. "Everybody's not geared to be a police officer. For those that aren't, they don't need to be here. The majority of the officers for MPD are hard workers, they're honest and they want to do their job."
But Memphians aren't so sure.
"Police officer caught with cocaine? They're supposed to be helping us," said Memphis resident Michael Parker. "I don't want to speak about all of them, some of them think they can abuse their authority… they do whatever and get away with it."
"Do I trust them? To a point," said Kim Ly. "They have some officers that's good, some but not all of them."
Memphian Tim Thompson noted, "They've lowered their requirements; it's so hard to get policemen, sometimes you get some bad elements in there… but it will come around."
Williams said the arrests are good and bad, and will eventually lead to a better department.
"I'm very discouraged when I see officers that are under investigation," Williams said. "We come on and we want to see the best in everybody, but everybody's not cut out to be police officers. But at the same time it's a good thing what Director Armstrong is doing because the citizens deserve to have the best protection."
Williams also said if the city continues to take benefits from officers, it will push the good ones out and won't attract the right caliber of candidates.
East Haven police commissioners to vote on recommendation to oust chief amid racial turmoil
EAST HAVEN, Conn. — Police commissioners in East Haven will be voting on whether to urge the mayor to fire Police Chief Leonard Gallo instead of letting him retire amid allegations that local officers abused Latinos.
Gallo's lawyer, Jon Einhorn, says his client is an unnamed co-conspirator in the federal indictment, accused of blocking efforts by the police commission to investigate misconduct.
The meeting is set for Tuesday evening. The police commission board's chairman says Gallo shouldn't be allowed to retire and collect a severance lump sum of $130,000 to $150,000.
Gallo announced his retirement on Monday following last week's arrests of four town officers by the FBI for an alleged campaign against Latinos that included beatings, false arrests and harassment. The officers have pleaded not guilty.
Gallo's lawyer, Jon Einhorn, says his client is an unnamed co-conspirator in the federal indictment, accused of blocking efforts by the police commission to investigate misconduct. Einhorn denies the claims.
FBI targets more suspects in Conn. police scandal
By MICHAEL MELIA, Associated Press–1 day ago
EAST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The arrests of four police officers accused of tyrannizing Latinos could mark the start of a bigger scandal in this working-class suburb, where the FBI is targeting additional suspects. The state is preparing for the possibility of widespread arrests that could cripple the town's police department.
Federal prosecutors have urged witnesses to come forward with details of abuses in East Haven, which was rocked by last week's arrests of the officers. The FBI described them as a "cancerous cadre" that subjected Hispanics to beatings and false arrests.
In a community that saw many Hispanics move away at the height of the abuse complaints, one obstacle for investigators is finding victims who are not deterred by fear of police or, in some cases, concerns about their residency status. The officers preyed on illegal immigrants who were unlikely to report abuse, according to the indictment.
"Many people are afraid to talk. We have to be careful," said Wilfrido Matute, the owner of My Country Store, the site of many incidents of alleged harassment of its largely Hispanic clientele.
The case adds to a history of friction between police and minorities in East Haven, an increasingly diverse community of 28,000 people that was nearly all white a generation ago. A separate civil rights investigation released last month found a deep-rooted pattern of discriminatory policing, and the town is under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department to make reforms.
For the police department, a more immediate concern is the prospect of more arrests.
The Connecticut governor's liaison on criminal justice policy, Mike Lawlor, said the state is prepared to step in and bolster the East Haven police department if necessary.
"State police are continuing to monitor the possibility that a significant number of police officers will be indicted," he said. "It seems like that is going to happen."
The police chief, Leonard Gallo, is apparently referred to by the federal grand jury as an unnamed co-conspirator, accused of blocking efforts by the police commission to investigate misconduct. His attorney has denied the allegations and criticized prosecutors for including the reference to him when he is not charged.
The Hispanic community grew to 10 percent of the town's population by 2010 as immigrants from Ecuador and Mexico, including many who had lived across the town line in New Haven, moved here for the peaceful, small-town setting. Many left amid a rise in profiling allegations, and while Latino businesses are now bouncing back, some say police are still widely feared.
Mario Marin, who testified before the grand jury in Bridgeport, said he knows of many who have refused to testify and even moved out of the state to avoid the police.
But Marin, a native of Ecuador who is pursuing U.S. residency, said he was eager to tell his story. His brother, Moises Marin, was videotaping alleged profiling outside Moises' restaurant, La Bamba, in November 2008 when an officer threw his brother to the ground, causing a cut to his chin and repeatedly kicking him while his hands were handcuffed behind his back.
Mario Marin said he was frozen by fear as stood by and watched, knowing police could lock him up away from his family if he defended his brother. But the feelings of guilt kept him awake at night for months.
"I am happy they are paying for their wrongs," said Marin, 40. "I agree with the laws of the United States, but not the laws that the police make up themselves."
That beating is among the crimes attributed in the indictment to officer Dennis Spaulding, described by prosecutors as the most dangerous defendant and barred from entering East Haven while he is free on bond. He and the other defendants — Sgt. John Miller, David Cari and Jason Zullo — face charges including deprivation of rights and obstruction of justice.
The Rev. James Manship, a priest at St. Rose of Lima Church in New Haven, who has advocated for East Haven's Latinos, said the arrests do little to address the rift between police and the Hispanic community.
"While some may feel the arrests somehow bring this to a conclusion rapidly, I don't think that would be honest," Manship said. "We need to recognize there is an incredible amount of anxiety for a large part of community."
The East Haven police department of some 50 officers has come under scrutiny for previous civil rights issues. A federal jury ruled in 2003 that a white officer used excessive force and violated the rights of a black man he fatally shot after a chase.
The mayor, Joseph Maturo Jr., says he has taken steps toward reform including the appointment of a new police advisory committee and the publishing of civilian complaint forms in both English and Spanish. His efforts toward healing the rift were set back, however, by his poorly received quip to a television reporter last week that he might "eat tacos" as a way of doing something for the Hispanic community. He has apologized.
Smith Township settles police brutality complaint
By Brian Bowling, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
A Burgettstown man has settled his claims against Smith Township, Washington County, in a federal police brutality lawsuit but still has claims pending against the police officer, according to court records.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan today approved a motion by John Dvorsak Jr., 60, and the township. Dvorsak in 2009 sued the township and Officer Derek Dayoub after a Sept. 27, 2008, incident in which Dvorsak claims Dayoub assaulted him and then filed false criminal charges against him.
Prosecutors later dismissed the charges against Dvorsak and, instead, charged Dayoub, 29, with assault and official oppression. The county dropped the prosecution of Dayoub after he paid Dvorsak about $1,600 in restitution, according to Washington County Common Pleas Court records.
Lenihan`s order dismissing the claims against the township don`t provide any details of the settlement. Lawyers for Dvorsak and the township couldn`t be reached for comment.
Gallo resigns
East Haven Police Chief Leonard Gallo’s retirement launches a new chapter in the saga of a New Haven exile as well as of a white-majority town’s resistance to change, infused with echoes of mid-20th century standoffs between southern communities and the federal government.
The news also brought smiles to Guti’z Bakery.
The retirement of Gallo—aka “Co-Conspirator-1” in a federal indictment of alleged racial police harassment and violence and rampant tampering with evidence—was announced at a Monday 11 a.m. press conference by embattled East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo.
“I think it’s good news. We need a chief willing to take care of this. We need a chief willing to enforce the law and not discriminate,” said owner Pedro Gutierrez, 55, who originally hails from Ecuador.
Maturo (pictured above at the press conference) read a prepared statement saying Gallo had handed in retirement papers that morning and had informed him of the decision last Friday. He announced a “transparent” search for a new chief would begin “immediately.” In the meantime, Deputy Chief John Mannion—who had clashed with Gallo—will run the department, Maturo announced.
He said he would not take questions from the press.
Gallo, who’s 64, did not attend the conference. His attorney, Jonathan Einhorn, did. Einhorn defended Gallo, saying the departing chief wanted to avoid being a “distraction.” Gallo has served as East Haven’s chief for 14 years, a period marked by ongoing racial conflict with Latinos and Latino advocates from New Haven and East Haven.
“He feels he’s doing the best thing for the town,” Einhorn said of Gallo’s decision to retire.
The news moves a police chief firmly into the role of target of a federal criminal investigation, without responsibility for simultaneously running a police department facing additional expected arrests.
Sanchez, a 34-year-old Peruvian native, moved out of East Haven a couple of years ago because the police had frightened her by stopping her so often for no reason on her way to the laundromat, she said. She moved to New Haven where the police wouldn’t bother her, she said.
Then two months ago friends told her the police harassment had subsided, she said. So she moved back to East Haven, where general crime is much lower than in New Haven, she said. Since returning, she said she hasn’t felt harassed.
Down the street at Los Amigos grocery store, Giovanny Rodriguez (pictured), who lives near the border in New Haven, said he also has only felt safe returning to East Haven in the last couple of months. He welcomed the news of Gallo’s departure. He said it will create a “clear space” for a thorough investigation of the department.
Rodriguez’s uncle, Luis Rodriguez, has owned the store for four years and lived through the worst of the police department harassment. He said the Gallo’s retirement is a positive development, but it should be only the first step to further changes. “I’m very sure that many police remain who were involved in these matters,” he said in Spanish.
He said he hopes his customers will begin to return to the store. “After four years of torture, everyone can come back.”
Luis said he’s looking forward to the entire East Haven community coming together as one, once the abuse and harassment is put in the past.
Elsewhere in town, some hope things will continue as they have. Ferdinando Cerrato, a 79-year-old retire barber from Wooster Street said he’s lived in East Haven for 47 years. He said the chief only retired because he was under pressure. “He and the East Haven police department are doing they’re job right.”
The Latino influx in recent years is ruining East Haven, he said. “They’re all criminals. They should be arrested and deported.”
He said he’s disgusted to see signs in Spanish around town. “They’re destroying our language, history and culture,” he said.
Cerrato said his mother and father were Italian immigrants who took night classes to learn English and American history. Contemporary Latino immigrants to East Haven “couldn’t care less about American history,” he said.
“It’s becoming a third-world banana republic,” Cerrato said of East Haven.
New Haveners involved in suing East Haven reacted positively to Monday’s news. “The power structure that perpetuated a toxic culture within the East Haven Police Department is finally crumbling,” Christopher Lapinig, a student in Yale Law School’s Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, stated in a release. Added civil-rights attorney David Rosen, in the same release: “We continue to learn the extent to which the police department’s law enforcement efforts were contaminated by the racism and police abuse that Gallo helped cultivate.”
Monday morning, before the press conference, Mayor Maturo met with representatives of the state Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission. East Haven State Sen. Len Fasano arranged the meeting.
Gallo’s departure represents a turning point in a decades-old battle over integration and police misconduct between, first, New Haven and East Haven; and now including the federal government.
Newspapers from the New Haven Register to The New York Times have blasted Maturo’s handling of an ongoing federal criminal probe into police misconduct and racial profiling and have called for Gallo’s ouster. Over 15,000 people have signed an online petition echoing that call
Until now Maturo and Gallo have acted with defiance.
A previous mayor, April Capone, had placed Gallo on leave pending the federal probe’s conclusion. Maturo, a former mayor, won the office back last November. He promptly reinstated Gallo—who had been run off the New Haven force because of his reputation for abusing racial minorities, among other hard-edged tactics—in defiance of the feds.
At a press conference last month, federal officials said the Maturo-Gallo regime has openly blocked their investigation. They portrayed East Haven as one of the most recalcitrant communities in the nation they’ve encountered in civil-rights probes.
Meanwhile, over the past week Maturo has provoked national protests (including the sending of hundreds of tacos to his office) with public comments that range from hostile to deeply confused about the growing Latino population in his town, which is largely Ecuadorean and is estimated at 10 percent. The emerging narrative has placed Gallo and Maturo in the roles of Southern segregationists like Bull Connor, Lester Maddox, and George Wallace, who resisted racial changes and battled activists and federal officials alike during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Fast Forward A Half Century
New Haven African-Americans have long charged East Haven cops with routinely harassing and sometimes brutalizing them. Those complaints exploded in public in 1997 when a white East Haven cop chased an unarmed black driver named Malik Jones into New Haven then shot him dead at close range. Years of complaints about East Haven brutality emerged, along with complaints about a police culture; the department took heat for its official softball T-shirts, which had a picture of cops slamming suspects against a car and the logo “Boyz On The Hood.” (Read one Italian-American urban cop’s history of that dynamic here.)
The issue exploded again in 2009 after the Independent reported that East Haven police falsely arrested a Fair Haven priest, Father James Manship, when he went to investigate charges from his Latino immigrant parishioners of rampant police profiling, harassment, and trumped-up arrests. A Yale Law School student clinic followed with a lawsuit. The actions brought to light tensions over the spilling of New Haven’s growing Ecuadorean immigrant community over the border into East Haven.
Then the U.S. Justice Department launched a civil-rights investigation. Last month it announced it had confirmed those complaints. In separate criminal and civil investigations, it spent two years looking into Gallo’s crew. It examined computer records, messages sent among officers, police reports. Throughout, officials charged, Gallo himself and some of his underlings not only refused to cooperate—they blocked the feds’ work. And they allegedly intimidated rank-and-file cops who considered providing information to the feds. The U.S. Attorney’s office released a report detailing alleged widespread abuses; Gallo was a key character in the report. (Read about that here.)
The report accused Gallo “and other EHPD officers” of “creat[ing] a hostile and intimidating environment for persons who wished to cooperate with our investigation.” The report cited “messages on a police union bulletin board that referred to ‘rats’ at EHPD.” It said “Chief Gallo had warned that DOJ had agreed to provide him with the names of individuals who cooperated with the investigation,” even though DOJ had told Gallo names would remain confidential. And, “remarkably,” according to the report, EHPD officers at “a late evening meeting ... warned DOJ staff and a police practices consultant that they could not guarantee their safety during ridealongs with officers.” Officials said if East Haven doesn’t clean up its act, a civil lawsuit could follow.
Meanwhile, a criminal case proceeded based on federal grand jury testimony being presented in Bridgeport. That led to the arrests last Tuesday of four cops. More arrests are expected.
And last Tuesday’s indictment made it clear that Gallo (largely acknowledged as “Co-Conspirator-1” in the document) is in the crosshairs of the federal criminal probe. So did conversations with people familiar with questioning by the U.S. attorney and grand jury investigating the East Haven case. Read about that here.
Einhorn (pictured), Gallo’s attorney, told reporters Gallo did not resign under duress. And his retirement after 14 years as chief and 42 years in law enforcement should not in any way be “construed” as an admission of guilt, Einhorn said.
“He is retiring form his position for one reason alone—that is his desire to not be a distracting element,” Einhorn said. He noted Gallo’s being named as a defendant in a civil suit and his role as the feds’ “Co-Conspirator-1” in the federal indictment.
“Should he be charged in a federal criminal case, we will successfully defend” him, Einhorn said. Gallo “is not guilty. He should not be arrested. If arrested, he will be acquitted on any charges,” Einhorn said. He said he had worked with Gallo on the statement.
Einhorn said Gallo’s retirement takes effect Friday. That gives him time to negotiate a retirement package.
But two East Haven police commissioners want to see Gallo fired, not retiring, so that he wouldn’t receive any severance. They’ll have to work fast.
Those two commissioners, Fred Brow and Jim Krebs, said after the news conference Monday that they plan to recommend at Tuesday night’s regularly monthly commission meeting that Gallo be fired.
Brow’s and Krebs’ terms as commissioners expire Tuesday night. They were appointees of the previous mayor, and have clashed regularly with Maturo and Gallo.
The news also brought smiles to Guti’z Bakery.
The retirement of Gallo—aka “Co-Conspirator-1” in a federal indictment of alleged racial police harassment and violence and rampant tampering with evidence—was announced at a Monday 11 a.m. press conference by embattled East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo.
“I think it’s good news. We need a chief willing to take care of this. We need a chief willing to enforce the law and not discriminate,” said owner Pedro Gutierrez, 55, who originally hails from Ecuador.
Maturo (pictured above at the press conference) read a prepared statement saying Gallo had handed in retirement papers that morning and had informed him of the decision last Friday. He announced a “transparent” search for a new chief would begin “immediately.” In the meantime, Deputy Chief John Mannion—who had clashed with Gallo—will run the department, Maturo announced.
He said he would not take questions from the press.
Gallo, who’s 64, did not attend the conference. His attorney, Jonathan Einhorn, did. Einhorn defended Gallo, saying the departing chief wanted to avoid being a “distraction.” Gallo has served as East Haven’s chief for 14 years, a period marked by ongoing racial conflict with Latinos and Latino advocates from New Haven and East Haven.
“He feels he’s doing the best thing for the town,” Einhorn said of Gallo’s decision to retire.
The news moves a police chief firmly into the role of target of a federal criminal investigation, without responsibility for simultaneously running a police department facing additional expected arrests.
Sanchez, a 34-year-old Peruvian native, moved out of East Haven a couple of years ago because the police had frightened her by stopping her so often for no reason on her way to the laundromat, she said. She moved to New Haven where the police wouldn’t bother her, she said.
Then two months ago friends told her the police harassment had subsided, she said. So she moved back to East Haven, where general crime is much lower than in New Haven, she said. Since returning, she said she hasn’t felt harassed.
Down the street at Los Amigos grocery store, Giovanny Rodriguez (pictured), who lives near the border in New Haven, said he also has only felt safe returning to East Haven in the last couple of months. He welcomed the news of Gallo’s departure. He said it will create a “clear space” for a thorough investigation of the department.
Rodriguez’s uncle, Luis Rodriguez, has owned the store for four years and lived through the worst of the police department harassment. He said the Gallo’s retirement is a positive development, but it should be only the first step to further changes. “I’m very sure that many police remain who were involved in these matters,” he said in Spanish.
He said he hopes his customers will begin to return to the store. “After four years of torture, everyone can come back.”
Luis said he’s looking forward to the entire East Haven community coming together as one, once the abuse and harassment is put in the past.
Elsewhere in town, some hope things will continue as they have. Ferdinando Cerrato, a 79-year-old retire barber from Wooster Street said he’s lived in East Haven for 47 years. He said the chief only retired because he was under pressure. “He and the East Haven police department are doing they’re job right.”
The Latino influx in recent years is ruining East Haven, he said. “They’re all criminals. They should be arrested and deported.”
He said he’s disgusted to see signs in Spanish around town. “They’re destroying our language, history and culture,” he said.
Cerrato said his mother and father were Italian immigrants who took night classes to learn English and American history. Contemporary Latino immigrants to East Haven “couldn’t care less about American history,” he said.
“It’s becoming a third-world banana republic,” Cerrato said of East Haven.
New Haveners involved in suing East Haven reacted positively to Monday’s news. “The power structure that perpetuated a toxic culture within the East Haven Police Department is finally crumbling,” Christopher Lapinig, a student in Yale Law School’s Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, stated in a release. Added civil-rights attorney David Rosen, in the same release: “We continue to learn the extent to which the police department’s law enforcement efforts were contaminated by the racism and police abuse that Gallo helped cultivate.”
Monday morning, before the press conference, Mayor Maturo met with representatives of the state Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission. East Haven State Sen. Len Fasano arranged the meeting.
Gallo’s departure represents a turning point in a decades-old battle over integration and police misconduct between, first, New Haven and East Haven; and now including the federal government.
Newspapers from the New Haven Register to The New York Times have blasted Maturo’s handling of an ongoing federal criminal probe into police misconduct and racial profiling and have called for Gallo’s ouster. Over 15,000 people have signed an online petition echoing that call
Until now Maturo and Gallo have acted with defiance.
A previous mayor, April Capone, had placed Gallo on leave pending the federal probe’s conclusion. Maturo, a former mayor, won the office back last November. He promptly reinstated Gallo—who had been run off the New Haven force because of his reputation for abusing racial minorities, among other hard-edged tactics—in defiance of the feds.
At a press conference last month, federal officials said the Maturo-Gallo regime has openly blocked their investigation. They portrayed East Haven as one of the most recalcitrant communities in the nation they’ve encountered in civil-rights probes.
Meanwhile, over the past week Maturo has provoked national protests (including the sending of hundreds of tacos to his office) with public comments that range from hostile to deeply confused about the growing Latino population in his town, which is largely Ecuadorean and is estimated at 10 percent. The emerging narrative has placed Gallo and Maturo in the roles of Southern segregationists like Bull Connor, Lester Maddox, and George Wallace, who resisted racial changes and battled activists and federal officials alike during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Fast Forward A Half Century
New Haven African-Americans have long charged East Haven cops with routinely harassing and sometimes brutalizing them. Those complaints exploded in public in 1997 when a white East Haven cop chased an unarmed black driver named Malik Jones into New Haven then shot him dead at close range. Years of complaints about East Haven brutality emerged, along with complaints about a police culture; the department took heat for its official softball T-shirts, which had a picture of cops slamming suspects against a car and the logo “Boyz On The Hood.” (Read one Italian-American urban cop’s history of that dynamic here.)
The issue exploded again in 2009 after the Independent reported that East Haven police falsely arrested a Fair Haven priest, Father James Manship, when he went to investigate charges from his Latino immigrant parishioners of rampant police profiling, harassment, and trumped-up arrests. A Yale Law School student clinic followed with a lawsuit. The actions brought to light tensions over the spilling of New Haven’s growing Ecuadorean immigrant community over the border into East Haven.
Then the U.S. Justice Department launched a civil-rights investigation. Last month it announced it had confirmed those complaints. In separate criminal and civil investigations, it spent two years looking into Gallo’s crew. It examined computer records, messages sent among officers, police reports. Throughout, officials charged, Gallo himself and some of his underlings not only refused to cooperate—they blocked the feds’ work. And they allegedly intimidated rank-and-file cops who considered providing information to the feds. The U.S. Attorney’s office released a report detailing alleged widespread abuses; Gallo was a key character in the report. (Read about that here.)
The report accused Gallo “and other EHPD officers” of “creat[ing] a hostile and intimidating environment for persons who wished to cooperate with our investigation.” The report cited “messages on a police union bulletin board that referred to ‘rats’ at EHPD.” It said “Chief Gallo had warned that DOJ had agreed to provide him with the names of individuals who cooperated with the investigation,” even though DOJ had told Gallo names would remain confidential. And, “remarkably,” according to the report, EHPD officers at “a late evening meeting ... warned DOJ staff and a police practices consultant that they could not guarantee their safety during ridealongs with officers.” Officials said if East Haven doesn’t clean up its act, a civil lawsuit could follow.
Meanwhile, a criminal case proceeded based on federal grand jury testimony being presented in Bridgeport. That led to the arrests last Tuesday of four cops. More arrests are expected.
And last Tuesday’s indictment made it clear that Gallo (largely acknowledged as “Co-Conspirator-1” in the document) is in the crosshairs of the federal criminal probe. So did conversations with people familiar with questioning by the U.S. attorney and grand jury investigating the East Haven case. Read about that here.
Einhorn (pictured), Gallo’s attorney, told reporters Gallo did not resign under duress. And his retirement after 14 years as chief and 42 years in law enforcement should not in any way be “construed” as an admission of guilt, Einhorn said.
“He is retiring form his position for one reason alone—that is his desire to not be a distracting element,” Einhorn said. He noted Gallo’s being named as a defendant in a civil suit and his role as the feds’ “Co-Conspirator-1” in the federal indictment.
“Should he be charged in a federal criminal case, we will successfully defend” him, Einhorn said. Gallo “is not guilty. He should not be arrested. If arrested, he will be acquitted on any charges,” Einhorn said. He said he had worked with Gallo on the statement.
Einhorn said Gallo’s retirement takes effect Friday. That gives him time to negotiate a retirement package.
But two East Haven police commissioners want to see Gallo fired, not retiring, so that he wouldn’t receive any severance. They’ll have to work fast.
Those two commissioners, Fred Brow and Jim Krebs, said after the news conference Monday that they plan to recommend at Tuesday night’s regularly monthly commission meeting that Gallo be fired.
Brow’s and Krebs’ terms as commissioners expire Tuesday night. They were appointees of the previous mayor, and have clashed regularly with Maturo and Gallo.
Attorney plans suit over DeLand police shooting, charges coverup
January 30, 2012 12:55 AM
LONGWOOD -- An attorney representing two men shot by a DeLand police officer plans to file a federal lawsuit accusing the department of unjustly unleashing a barrage of bullets and then engaging in a coverup.
Scott M. Miller, who practices law in Longwood, called the department's actions during the Jan. 22 shooting "a clear case of police brutality, excessive force and just poor decision making" that is among the worst cases he has seen in his 20-year law career.
"We don't live in a society of militance," Miller said during a press conference Sunday. "The officers are supposed to be there to serve and protect -- not engage in the sort of behavior where it is shoot first, ask questions later."
Miller's announcement came a week after Officer Bobby Harrelson shot Javier Perez, 37, and Leobigildo Espinoza, 36, both of DeLand. The DeLand Police Department, Police Chief William Ridgway and Harrelson will be listed as defendants in the suit, which will accuse officers of violating Perez and Espinoza's civil rights, Miller said.
Lt. Jack Waples, a spokesman for the DeLand Police Department, referred questions to Deputy Chief Randel Henderson, who did not immediately return email and phone messages Sunday. In a previous interview, Ridgway defended the shooting, saying it appeared to be a justified use of deadly force based on what he had seen so far.
Miller and police are giving different accounts of the shooting.
Authorities showed up to Perez's backyard near the 100 block of Carroll Avenue after receiving a 9-1-1 call. The caller told authorities three men hired by her parents to kill her were pointing a shotgun at her trailer, according to a recording of the call released by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
DeLand police say officers hid behind a privacy fence and identified themselves in English and Spanish. At that point, Espinoza grabbed what appeared to police to be a rifle, hid behind a stove in the backyard and pointed the gun at Harrelson, according to the department's account. The weapon was later determined to be a BB gun.
Harrelson opened fire, hitting Espinoza three times, according to the Police Department's account. Perez picked up the BB gun after Espinoza was hit, aimed it at officers and was shot in the right arm, according to police reports. Another man, Arnulfo Mendoza, who was in the yard at the time of the shooting, was detained and later released.
How many shots were fired is unclear. Police said Harrelson fired at least six shots with an AR-15 rifle. Neighbors said they heard more than 10 shots.
Neighbor Joshua Lindner said a bullet struck his dog, and shrapnel also grazed his 2-month-old daughter's foot. DeLand police said the child's injury might not be related to the shooting.
Miller said an investigation conducted by his law firm revealed a different set of events than those described by police. One of the witnesses his firm spoke with was Mendoza, who Miller said is friends with the men who were shot. Other witnesses have not been identified.
Miller said Espinoza and Perez had been shooting at oranges with a BB gun earlier in the day and were "simply sitting in some chairs" when the shooting occurred. Contrary to police statements, the men never grabbed the BB gun, which was 20 feet away on the stove, he said.
Neighbors also said they heard gunshots before police identified themselves, Miller said.
Three days after the shooting, Perez and Espinoza were charged with aggravated assault on an officer. Espinoza remains hospitalized at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Miller said. Perez is being held on $30,000 bail.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also flagged Perez as possibly being in the country illegally, according to court records.
Harrelson has been placed on administrative leave with pay. An investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is ongoing.