Fairfax County Police Watch: What would happen to you if you did this?/Cops break the law, get paid vacation, You pick up the bill

Salaries and benefits for two suspended Glen Rock police officers restored

Texas Cop Suspended for Eight Hours for Mistake That Led to Years of Legal Troubles for Innocent Man, According to Lawsuit

All Charges Dropped Against White Cop Who Shot A Black 7-Year-Old In Her Sleep

CHP Officer Pleads No Contest in Nude Photo Scandal, Must Speak to Community

Officer charged with assault, disorderly conduct, civil rights violation

No retrial for Detroit officer who killed 7-year-old, prosecutor says

Green Bay officer suspended day without pay for crash

Salaries and benefits for two suspended Glen Rock police officers restored

BY CHRIS HARRIS

Suspended Glen Rock Officers Bryan Scott, center, and Christopher McInerney, right.

GLEN ROCK — Two suspended policemen have had their salaries and medical benefits restored while they face disciplinary action for allegedly deleting photo files from a police department computer.

Officer Christopher McInerney confirmed Friday morning that the Glen Rock council informed his lawyers on Thursday that he was returned to the borough’s payroll with his benefits back in effect. Officer Bryan Scott also started receiving pay again from Thursday on, and he and his family’s benefits are active once more.

Both officers received checks from the borough on Thursday. The suspensions remain in effect, McInerney said, but with pay.

A statement issued by the borough Friday said the council agreed to restore the officers’ benefits and salaries “based upon the prior habit, custom and practice of the borough.”

The move, the statement added, in no way “questions or challenges the decision by Chief [Fred] Stahman to file disciplinary charges against the two officers.”

Glen Rock retroactively paid McInerney and Scott from the date of their suspensions in late December, McInerney said.

“Overall, Thursday was a good day” McInerney said by phone, adding he’s glad he can support his family again.

Both officers are accused of deleting two pictures taken during a policemen’s retirement party in 2005 from a folder on a police department desktop. An internal affairs investigation was initiated, but borough officials refused to disclose its findings. Stahman made the initial decision to suspend the officers without pay.

As word of his move spread through social media and online forums, an estimated 500 residents and area police officers showed up at Glen Rock council’s meeting two weeks ago. Many residents endorsed the officers’ characters and lauded the professionalism shown by both McInerney and Scott through their work with the community.

One borough resident even launched a crowd-funding campaign online for the two suspended officers that raised $12,000. And a Facebook page, launched in support of McInerney and Scott, has netted more than 500 followers.

At the council’s meeting on Wednesday, residents once again called on officials to immediately reinstate both police officers’ salaries and benefits.

Mayor John van Keuren alluded Wednesday night to a decision the council made regarding the officers’ suspensions during a closed session that preceded this week’s meeting, but declined to disclose the details of that decision.

Borough officials have yet to outline the specific cases pending against McInerney and Scott, but the officers’ lawyers say they are not criminal in nature.

Two weeks ago, the council hired retired Superior Court judge Alexander H. Carver III to oversee pending disciplinary hearings that have been requested by both officers. Those hearings will likely start sometime in February, though no date has been determined at this stage, officials said.

Documents show Carver will earn $350 an hour, while River Edge attorney Thomas Hanrahan will make $175 per hour representing the borough. An associate of Hanrahan’s firm also will make $130 an hour working for Glen Rock, documents show.

Scott has been an officer with the department since 2005 and serves as the PBA president. McInerney, a Glen Rock police officer since 1998, brought a lawsuit against the borough and the department in early December, claiming he was unjustly demoted from the rank of sergeant after years of on-the-job harassment and retaliation.

McInerney’s civil suit contends the officer was the subject of more than 20 internal affairs investigations while a member of the Police Department.

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.

Texas Cop Suspended for Eight Hours for Mistake That Led to Years of Legal Troubles for Innocent Man, According to Lawsuit

Ed Krayewski|Jan. 30, 2015 10:56 am

Robert Tidwell thought he was an innocent man when he was arrested by police in Round Rock, Texas, on charges of indecent exposure, accused of exposing himself at a YMCA he visited with his family.

Tidwell maintained his innocent but police insisted they didn’t make a mistake. "I wouldn't have called you if there was any type of mistake, because that's just kind of silly to just randomly call people," he said during Tidwell’s interrogation. And while the officer didn’t appear to have just randomly called Tidwell, he did in fact make a mistake.

KEYE TV reports:

In an internal affairs investigation interview, the detective admitted he had made a mistake. When asked if he intentionally put false information in the arrest affidavit he responded, "No sir, I didn't. It was an accident. I made a mistake. I did. I just made, I made a big mistake."

According to documents provided by the Round Rock Police Department, the detective was found in "neglect of duty."

According to the department documents, his discipline was an eight hour suspension without pay.

Tidwell says his punishment dragged on for years.

"For nearly two years, I woke up every day knowing that I was out on bail, pretty much having that over my head," said Tidwell.

The second arrest also happened after Tidwell filed a complaint against the police department, but police insist opening new investigations on charges dropped by prosecutors was standard operating procedure. Via KEYE:

The city stated, "Re-opening, or continuing an investigation after a prosecutor has declined to prosecute a case pending further investigation is not an uncommon practice in law enforcement. The fact that this happened in Mr. Tidwell's case two months after he filed a complaint against the department is coincidental."

Tidwell's attorney has another take.

"Instead of just admitting fault and moving on they doubled down on their mistakes and ran Robert through all of this again," said Scott Medlock. "That's what's really shocking here."

Tidwell eventually filed a federal lawsuit. He accepted a settlement [of $110,000], which was paid by the city's insurance and not with city funds, according to city officials.

Tidwell’s attorney says he hopes the settlement sent a message to police “to do tip top work.” But the settlement doesn’t affect the police department, and an eight hour suspension is unlikely to send much of a message at all.

Separately, the city of Round Rock is also facing a lawsuit from a disabled veteran who claims he was assaulted by police during a traffic stop. A police offenders registry could be a useful tool for insurance companies to determine risk when they cover cities for police issues.

Ed Krayewski is an associate editor at Reason.com

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.

All Charges Dropped Against White Cop Who Shot A Black 7-Year-Old In Her Sleep

Posted by Claire Hannum

Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley, who shot 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in her sleep during a raid on her home in 2010, will not face any charges surrounding her death. Weekley was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter (a felony) and careless discharge of a firearm causing death (a misdemeanor) in connection to Aiyana’s death in 2011, and his first trial in 2013 resulted in a hung jury. A retrial began in September 2014, and Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway, who presided over the case, eventually dropped the involuntary manslaughter charge, citing a lack of evidence. The incident ultimately ended with another hung jury. This morning, the case was officially dismissed in Detroit’s Wayne County Circuit Court. Weekley will not face a third trial, and Aiyana’s family will likely never find closure or justice for their loss.

On the night of Aiyana’s death in 2010, police raided her home around midnight in search of a murder suspect wanted for the shooting of a teenager on Detroit’s east side. The police were accompanied by a camera crew filming for the A&E show “The First 48,” which may have impacted the cops’ behavior. To distract the the house’s residents, the cops fired a flash grenade through the front window — a tactic that is almost never used in this type of case. Aiyana was sleeping on a couch in the front room of the house’s first floor. The murder suspect the cops had been searching for, who was the boyfriend of Aiyana’s aunt, was in the apartment on the second floor of the house, but the police were focusing on the first floor instead, perhaps mistakenly. When they finally got to apprehending the suspect, he surrendered, but not before Aiyana got caught in the crossfire.

This point in the story is when, as we’ve seen play out many times in recent history, the police’s story greatly differs from what the house’s residents and local witnesses saw. Detroit police claim Weekley, a member of the Detroit SWAT team, was the first one to enter the home, and that he pushed his way inside protected by a shield. At one time, the police’s story insisted Aiyana’s grandmother, Mertilla Jones, attempted to grab Weekley’s gun and caused it to fire and kill the sleeping girl. The facts varied, with the department and Weekley seemed unable to make up their mind about whether Jones actually got her hands on the gun, simply tried to grab it, or “brushed” the gun while running past the door.

Jones, on the other hand, says that when the grenade came through her window, she was on the couch away from the door, and reached for her granddaughter, not the gun. She says she had no physical contact with Weekley. Her lawyer said the bullet that hit Aiyana was fired from outside the house, potentially through the front door once it was opened. Jones was arrested that night, tested for drugs and gunpowder, and released the following day. Her fingerprints were not found on Weekley’s gun, but for some ridiculous reason that was not considered worthy cause to take her story more seriously.

Wayne Country Prosecutor Kym Worthy told the Detroit News that the judge’s decision to dismiss the felony manslaughter charge against Weekley in his retrial is “unfortunate,” as her decision cannot legally be appealed and the remaining misdemeanor against him is now dropped. Detroit Police Officers Association President Mark Diaz told the News that the case’s dismissal is “great news,” because “the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is having a difficult time finding the resources to prosecute murderers and rapists, so to try (Weekley) for a third time would obviously be a waste of money they don’t have.” Hmm, except for the part where what happened to Aiyana was arguably murder and that not bothering to thoroughly determine who is responsible for a small child’s death just because nobody feels like spending the money doesn’t exactly live up to the “blind Justice” ideal that Americans are (falsely, it seems) told they can count on.

Roland Lawrence, chairman of the Justice for Aiyana Jones Committee, felt that Hathaway “abused her authority by dismissing felony charges against Joe Weekley before the jury had a chance to deliberate,” and it’s hard to disagree. When Hathaway and lawyers were choosing the jury for Weekly’s second trial, candidates were asked about race and the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. The jurors selected reportedly agreed that race was “irrelevant” in Aiyana’s case, which is nothing short of mindblowing.

Jones cried Wednesday as she received the news of the case’s dismissal. Ron Scott, a spokesman for Aiyana’s family and the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, says Jones “thinks the system has failed her.” How could she not!? “She feels it’s unfair and he’s getting away with murder and can go back to his job.” Scott intends to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to consider federal civil rights charges against the members of the Detroit Police Department responsible for the raid. According to a Detroit police detective, the choice to order the SWAT team to raid the home in the middle of the night as opposed to the less-risky morning hours was strange (and perhaps poor) decision on the part of other department members.

Weekley issued a statement in October at the time of the second trial, part of which said, “There has not been one single day that has gone by since that day where I have not thought about the loss of Aiyana and I will be haunted by this tragedy for the rest of my life.” He’s been hanging out on paid leave from the police department since he was first charged in March 2011. Does any of this story sound hauntingly familiar? This unjust dynamic between police and those they’re tasked with protecting is playing out every day all over the US, and it’s hard not to feel more and more desperate and frustrated as it continues to happen. How many more children have to die before white men are held accountable for their actions? In a statement, Scott said, “This episode, given what is happening nationally in terms of police-community relations, sets us back decades. We will continue the fight for justice for Aiyana … since she is not here to fight for herself.”

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.

CHP Officer Pleads No Contest in Nude Photo Scandal, Must Speak to Community

By Shawn Murphy and Lisa Fernandez

California Highway Patrol officer Sean Harrington pleaded no contest Tuesday to two felony counts of secretly copying and sharing explicit photos of female DUI suspects, and agreed to speak at community forums to tell everyone what he did. (Published Tuesday, Jan 27, 2015)

A former California Highway Patrol officer who secretly sent himself and his colleagues nude photos of arrested women from their cell phones will spend three years on probation but will be spared jail time.

Sean Harrington, 35, pleaded no contest Tuesday morning to two felony charges of unauthorized access to a computer and copying computer data for secretly sending himself the photos of DUI suspects.

His plea deal means he'll avoid jail time but will receive three years of formal felony probation and a 180-day suspended jail sentence. He must also speak at a community violence solutions class to tell everyone what he did, prosecutor Barry Grove said.

If Harrington had gone to trial, he could have faced up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted on all counts, Grove said.

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 charged with assault, disorderly conduct, civil rights violation.

SENT HOME ON PAID VACATION

YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio (AP) —A police sergeant in southwest Ohio has been charged with assault after officials say she used physical force to remove a camera from a resident who was taping police activity.

WHIO-TV and the Dayton Daily News report police in the village of Yellow Springs were obtaining license plate information while serving an eviction notice when a woman came outside and questioned them.

Officials say the woman then began filming the officers' actions, and Sgt. Naomi Penrod reportedly twisted the wrists of the woman and removed her camera.

Penrod is charged with misdemeanor counts of assault, interfering with civil rights and disorderly conduct. She will be placed on administrative leave with pay until the case is resolved.

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.

No retrial for Detroit officer who killed 7-year-old, prosecutor says

In 2013 and 2014, juries could not reach a decision on charges against Detroit Police Officer Joseph Weekley, who shot and killed a 7-year-old girl during a 2010 raid. (Associated Press)

By James Queally

After two mistrials, Detroit police officer who shot and killed a 7-year-old won't be retried

Prosecutors will not seek to retry a Detroit police officer who accidentally shot and killed a 7-year-old girl during a 2010 raid, ending a years-long legal battle that has featured two mistrials.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Wayne County prosecutor Kym L. Worthy said she had informed relatives of Aiyana Stanley-Jones that she would not seek a third trial for Officer Joseph Weekley, who has been accused of involuntary manslaughter and reckless use of his firearm.

As soon as they came in, their guns were just pointing right there, and he pulled the trigger.- Mertilla Jones, describing police on the day of her granddaughter's fatal shooting

Worthy blamed the decision on an October ruling by Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway, who dismissed the manslaughter charge against Weekley during the 2014 trial. She declared a mistrial days later when a Wayne County jury deadlocked: Seven of the 12 members voted to acquit Weekley of the reckless discharge offense, the only remaining charge on the indictment.

Weekley was first prosecuted in 2013, but a jury could not reach a verdict in that trial either. Worthy said her office would move to dismiss all charges Friday.

Aiyana was killed in May 2010 when Weekley and several other officers raided a Detroit home. Weekley has said his gun accidentally discharged when the victim's grandmother, Mertilla Jones, reached for it.

Jones has contended that the fatal shot was fired only seconds after officers lobbed a stun grenade at the property and breached the home.

Aiyana, who was leaning on the armrest of a couch, was shot once in the head.

During the 2013 trial, neighbors said they warned the police that there were children inside the home.

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.

Cops get away with killing child

DETROIT — A Detroit grandmother testified Monday that she could only watch in terror as masked police officers with guns drawn stormed her home in a hunt for a murder suspect that led to the fatal shooting of her 7-year-old granddaughter. ( Associated Press )

"As soon as they came in, their guns were just pointing right there, and he pulled the trigger,” Jones said at the first trial. “I seen the light leave out of her eyes and the blood started gushing out her mouth and she was dead.”

Weekley has remained on administrative leave since the incident, according to Sgt. Mike Woody, a Detroit police spokesman.

At the time of the shooting, Weekley was a member of the department's Special Response Team. Woody declined to comment on his future with the department.

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.

Green Bay officer suspended day without pay for crash

Nathan Phelps, Press-Gazette Media 3:29 p.m. CST January 29, 2015

A Green Bay police officer was suspended for a day without pay after a collision between two police cruisers late last summer.

Officer Zachary Koch was given the one-day suspension without pay following a police investigation into a Sept. 23 rear-end collision of two squad cars and sent Koch and other officer, John LaValley, to the hospital for treatment of injuries.

The crash occurred on the Mason Street Bridge around 3 p.m. when Koch and other officers were responding to a report of a moped crash involving a person with a head injury.

Koch struck LaValley's squad from behind as the two vehicles traveled west on the bridge through traffic. Loss of the vehicles and equipment was about $50,000, according to police.

An investigation into the crash found Koch — who was dispatched to a theft call before opting to respond to the moped accident — violated five policies related to safe operation of an emergency vehicle, communication procedures and obeying orders, according to police documents in the case.

As part of the investigation, Koch must must spend four hours of duty time in training "related to building your capacity with defensive driving and emergency driving in traffic," according to police documents obtained by Press-Gazette Media through a records request to the city.

Future misconduct may result in discipline, including the possibility of termination, police told Koch.

Green Bay Police Department Lt. Chad Ramos said the well being of citizens and officers is a foremost concern and the department is thankful there were no serious injuries in the crash.

"The conduct of our officers is of our utmost concern and we look at these situations very closely ... and we want to make sure our officers are working to the high degree of standards we expect of them," he said. "When we see areas of concern, or misconduct if you will, we're going to deal with it accordingly."

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.