Fairfax County Police Watch: The cop crime wave continues

Cop Sentenced in Cargo Theft By Go

By Truck News+ Updated: January 20, 2015 A former police officer from Jersey City, N.J., will spend the next three years in jail. Mario “Mad Dog” Rodriguez, was sentenced earlier this month for his role in a cargo theft and extortion scheme. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charges. He must also serve three years of supervised release and pay a fine of $2,000. Rodriguez was charged after he and another individual, who unbeknownst to Rodriguez was an FBI confidential informant, broke into a trailer parked at a warehouse in Secaucus, N.J. The trailer had been left there under surveillance by law enforcement. The pair stole 600,000 cigarettes and six televisions from the trailer then drove to Staten Island, N.Y., where they sold the cigarettes to another individual, who was an undercover police officer, for $5,000. Rodriquez kept $3,000 of the money and three of the TVs. Over the next several weeks, Rodriguez collaborated with the FBI informant and other undercover agents to plan the robbery of a drug dealer. Rodriguez and Anthony Roman, Jersey City, who was not a law enforcement officer, met the dealer in a mall parking lot. The dealer, another undercover officer, was driving an SUV equipped with surveillance and containing a plastic bag with $20,000 in cash. Rodriguez and Roman identified themselves as police officers and said they had to inspect the vehicle. That’s when they stole the cash. After leaving the parking lot, Rodriguez, the informant and another undercover agent met in a hotel room to split the money. - See more at:

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.

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.

Middlefield police officer charged with falsifying a report appears in court

By Andrew Ragali Record-Journal staff

MERIDEN — A veteran Middlefield police officer accused of falsifying a police report is working with the town on a separation agreement.

Officer Scott Halligan, a 26-year veteran, was arrested Sept. 15 by state police and charged with filing a false incident report, a misdemeanor. The report said his personal vehicle was damaged in a collision with a deer. Halligan, one of two officers in Middlefield, has been suspended with pay since his arrest, Town Attorney Bruno Morasutti said.

Halligan was scheduled to appear Monday morning in Superior Court, though he initially didn’t show. His attorney, Daniel Esposito, appeared on his behalf before Judge Philip Scarpellino.

Halligan is attempting to apply for accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation for first-time offenders that would remove the charge from his record after a probation period set by the judge.

Morasutti told Scarpellino Monday that the town supports Halligan’s application for accelerated rehabilitation and is working toward a separation agreement with Halligan that will end his employment.

“It doesn’t mean he’ll get accelerated rehabilitation,” Scarpellino said of the proposed separation agreement.

At Morasutti’s request, the case was continued until March 5. Middlefield First Selectman Jon A. Brayshaw couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

Scarpellino was upset that Halligan didn’t initially appear in court Monday morning.

“I’m sure when he was a police officer, if he told you to stay somewhere, you would stay, and if he told you to go somewhere, you would go,” Scarpellino said.

At Scarpellino’s urging, Esposito left the courtroom to find Halligan. Less than an hour later, Halligan appeared before the judge.

“You need to be in court when you have a court date,” Scarpellino said.

Another officer noticed damage to the front of Halligan’s Nissan Maxima in early July, according to an arrest warrant. Halligan told the officer that he struck a deer on Cider Mill Road when it jumped out in front of his car. He told the officer that he didn’t report the incident but would do so later, the warrant states.

After getting a quote from a local auto body shop to fix the damaged car, Halligan sent a text message to the other officer on July 8 asking that he create a car versus deer incident report, which is required of law enforcement officials to report the killing of any deer.

After noticing the incident report on Halligan’s desk July 11, a state trooper inspected the damage to his personal vehicle in the parking lot and found no evidence of a deer strike. He also found that the damage observed wasn’t consistent with the report.

When questioned by state police, Halligan admitted that the accident didn’t involve a deer but occurred at the intersection of Main Street and Reeds Gap Road when he collided with metal debris in the road, the warrant states.

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.

Officer suspended over falsified traffic ticket count

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (Jan. 26, 2015)– FOX59 News has learned that a Speedway police officer was suspended for 35 days in 2014 for falsifying traffic ticket statistics while working on a federally funded traffic safety program.

Officer Mike Clupper was found to have lied about his role in the Marion County traffic safety partnership.

Local officers, working overtime, typically are assigned four-hour shifts when they are expected to write four tickets, or confirm a similar number of traffic contacts, per hour.

The $400,000 federal grant program is aimed at jailing drunk drivers, patrolling high-incident intersections and enforcing speed limits.

Clupper’s falsified ticket count was uncovered by an audit by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and IMPD, the lead agency in the partnership.

“During this audit we recognized there was a descrepancy in the number of tickets that were scheduled to be in court versus the number of tickets on the stat sheet,” said IMPD Deputy Chief Mike Bates. “He was basically over reporting the number of (tickets) that he had written during a particular time.”

“I was told it was six separate times.”

Clupper and Chief James Campbell, who recommended the suspension to the Speedway police merit board, were not available for comment.

Earlier in the day, Campbell spoke to the 10th IMPD leadership academy which trains low ranking officers in department management.

“You’ve heard the message and I think in 2015 there is nothing more important than the quality of leadership within a police department.”

Bates said that while it is the responsibility of each department’s supervisors to monitor the work of their patrol officers in the program, Speedway police commanders were not aware of the discrepancy until it was pointed out by the Partnership.

The partnership deferred to Campbell’s authority when it came to disciplining his officer and Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry’s office refused to charge Clupper with theft.

“He actually made arrests during this period, too,” said Bates, “so it was actually just a ticket issue. So really it was just more of a performance issue there was no criminal charges involved in it.

“I know there was discipline involved and the officer was removed from any future partnership grant work. He’s not allowed to do that anymore.”

Bates said that while the program has been an overall success, Clupper’s falsification was discovered only through a “random” audit.

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.

Dispatcher charged with aiding officer accused of burglaries

By Sanford Schmidt

EDWARDSVILLE — A Madison County grand jury Wednesday charged an Edwardsville police dispatcher with two counts of obstructing justice and a count of theft in connection with burglaries allegedly committed by an Edwardsville police officer.

The jury handed up an indictment of Keri L. Knight, 41, of the 8100 block of Moreland Road, Bethalto, who is accused of lying to a Madison County deputy about officer Brian Barker’s alleged crimes. Barker has been suspended without pay.

She allegedly told the deputy that she was unaware that money from the alleged burglaries were in a plastic container in her possession.

She is also accused of removing money from her home to prevent investigating officers from finding it. The theft count is a misdemeanor in which she was accused of obtaining control over stolen property.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation to avoid the a potential conflict of interest. Knight’s bail has been set at $15,000, but she was released on her own recognizance.

Multiple charges were filed in December against Barker for a series of burglaries that were discovered as a result of a burglary at an Edwardsville salon, a release from Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas D. Gibbons said.

Barker was originally charged Dec. 23 with burglary and official misconduct after an investigation into a burglary at Reality Salon and Spa.

The burglary was discovered through the owner’s security system. Upon learning that an Edwardsville officer was suspected in the burglary, Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven contacted Sheriff John Lakin and the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and requested that they handle the investigation, Gibbons said in a news release.

After the initial investigation into the Reality Salon and Spa, the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Barker with one count of burglary and one count of official misconduct. He is accused of stealing approximately $450 while on duty.

Further investigation into unsolved burglaries in Edwardsville led to additional burglary charges that were filed later in December. Baker is now facing eleven additional burglary charges and one count of residential burglary, for crimes committed between May 2012 and November 2014, the release said.

Additionally, Barker is charged with aggravated unlawful possession of stolen firearms, a Class X felony. The burglaries occurred at various businesses in the Edwardsville area including several law firms, retail establishments and another salon. The residential burglary occurred in Moro.

The State’s Attorney’s Office has been advised by Keeven that Barker will be placed on administrative leave without pay. Barker’s bond was set at $100,000 on Friday’s charges and $75,000 on the original charges. He was released after posting $17,500 cash on the initial charges.

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.