No surprise Denver police officers not charged in Landau beating case, experts say

Alexander Landau, pictured in May 2011, said he is disappointed but not defeated by a Justice Department decision that three Denver police officers who beat him in 2009 won't be charged with civil-rights violations. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

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Alexander Landau was shocked that the Justice Department opted not to charge three Denver police officers with civil-rights violations in his 2009 beating case. But Friday's news didn't surprise experts at all.

Taking police officers to court is a tough call for prosecutors, who must prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt in the face of politics, polarized perceptions of police and evidence that different people view differently.

Proving officers violated someone's civil rights is even more challenging because "they have to show not just overreaching and callousness, but did they mean to deprive someone of their civil rights?" said Eugene O'Donnell, a former police officer and prosecutor who is now a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

"People will be viscerally outraged, but prosecutors learn and know that the visceral outrage often will not see them through to a guilty verdict," O'Donnell said.

With the Justice Department's decision not to prosecute — and having already reached a $795,000 settlement with the city in a federal lawsuit — Landau and his supporters said Saturday that Manager of Public Safety Alex Martinez's pending discipline decision is essentially their last hope that the officers will be punished.

Landau's lawsuit said that Cpl. Randy Murr and Officers Ricky Nixon and Tiffany Middleton tried to cover up the Jan. 19, 2009, beating that left him scarred and suffering neurological damage. He said the officers hit him with their fists, flashlights and a radio and called him a racial epithet during the incident that started as a traffic stop.

Police, however, said Landau had reached for Middleton's gun.

The Police Department's internal-affairs bureau has completed its own investigation into the allegations, but leaders were awaiting the results of the Justice Department's probe before making a discipline decision.

Martinez said after a previously scheduled community meeting Saturday that he hoped to obtain information from the federal agency about its investigation "that may or may not add to the view we currently have of the situation."

He would not elaborate or offer a time for when he might issue his order.

Mu Son Chi, racial-justice and civil-rights director for the Colorado Progressive Coalition, said there is no reason to wait.

"These are different processes for different purposes," he said.

Chief Robert White declined to comment, as did Mayor Michael Hancock, who said he had been notified of the decision but had not had a chance to read it. Both were at the community meeting, which was not related to the Landau case.

The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The decision not to prosecute has made many in the community feel that civil lawsuits are their only recourse when they believe police have violated their rights, said Landau's attorney, Anna Holland Edwards.

"The public cannot rely on government prosecutors or internal audits to end these types of government abuses," she wrote in an e-mail Saturday. "Citizens must continue to demand that their elected representatives act and take their cases to court where juries can decide whether this kind of conduct is acceptable."

Cases against on-duty officers are easier to prove in civil court, where the standards of proof are lower, said Karen Steinhauser, former chief deputy district attorney in Denver who now has a criminal-defense practice.

"Police cases are just difficult to prove," she said. "Though jurors are instructed to look at every witness the same, we tend to look at law enforcement officers as being just that: officers who enforce the law and not break it. There's still a tendency of most people to look at officers and say, 'I can't believe they would do something like that.' It's the intangible that comes into play as far as proving these cases."

Sometimes the only witnesses are other officers, who are reluctant to testify against their own. And while evidence alone should determine whether charges are filed, O'Donnell said cases also rise and fall on a victim's credibility, officers' disciplinary records, politics, police-community relations and even a prosecutor's personality.

"No matter what they want to do, they have to say, 'Can this case be proven?' And most of the time, it's not proving the use of force," O'Donnell said. "It's disproving the cops' claim that it was legitimate. ... Proof beyond a reasonable doubt looks like an awfully big mountain to climb."

Landau, meanwhile, said he is disappointed but not defeated. He said he will continue to encourage others to come forward if they feel they have been wronged by police.

"There's got to be a way to make (the department) take these cases more seriously," he said

Morris County Man, Former Police Officer Charged with Attempting to Collect Debts by Extortion

U.S. Attorney’s Office February 08, 2013

District of New Jersey (973) 645-2888

NEWARK—A former Passaic Police officer and organized crime associate from Morris County, New Jersey, appeared in Newark federal court today on charges he attempted to collect a debt by extortion, U S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Stefano Mazzola, 68, of Rockaway, is charged in a complaint with one count of using extortion to collect or attempt to collect a debt and to punish a person for non-repayment of a debt. Mazzola appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo and was detained.

According to the criminal complaint:

In 2012, the victim obtained a loan of $30,000 from an individual, who subsequently transferred the loan to Mazzola. The victim periodically made payments on the loan to Mazzola. In late 2012, Mazzola began to threaten that if the victim did not repay the loan, he would physically harm the victim.

The victim made a number of consensually recorded phone calls to Mazzola, during which Mazzola threatened the victim. During a phone call on January 17, 2013, Mazzola acknowledged that an individual had transferred the loan to him, stating, “He gave me that debt; I’ve paid out $20-something-thousand, if not more, for him.”

Later in the conversation, Mazzola threatened the victim. “Let me explain something to ya, and I really mean this, and I don’t care who is listening to my phone or not, if I want to do something to ya, I don’t give a f—k if you give me a million dollars. If I’m looking to hurt ya; I’ll take the money and still hurt ya. It has nothing to do with it,” Mazzola said.

On another call that occurred on January 23, 2013, the victim told Mazzola, “You know you’re gonna get paid.” In response, Mazzola said, “You say you know I’m gonna get paid, I don’t believe nothing....If I write it off in my head, it doesn’t matter. Because I’m a firm believer in time....But listen, I know what I’m gonna do. ’Cause it doesn’t matter to me. It don’t matter whether it’s now or 10 years from now. It don’t matter. You don’t understand. You just don’t know me. I don’t give a f—k if an agent is listening.”

The charge of extortionate collection of a debt is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Velazquez in Newark, and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, under the direction of Commissioner Jan Gilhooly, with the investigation that led to today’s charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Colone of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Aurora settles police brutality lawsuit;

AURORA - After a year-and-a-half of legal wrangling, the City of Aurora decided to settle a lawsuit accusing the police of brutality.

On December 18, 2010, officers handcuffed Ricky Burrell while he was in the middle of a seizure.

Burrell died in December of an unrelated illness.

As part of the settlement, the city will pay his estate $100,000 and officers are getting new training.

9Wants to Know obtained the 911 tape during which Burrell's wife Evelyn King tells dispatch repeatedly Burrell is fighting her.

From Aurora 911:

King: "He's had three seizures, he's a recovering alcoholic, but he's incoherent like he's having another one."
King: "He's fighting me."

Aurora police found Burrell unconscious and lying face down on the bed.

Burrell described his recollection of the incident in an interview with 9Wants to Know in May of 2012.

"To me I felt like I went to sleep. The next thing I remember I was being attacked by the police," Burrell said.

Burrell died of cancer in December of 2012.

A lawsuit filed before his death says officers mistook Burrell's seizure for resisting arrest.

Assistant Aurora City Attorney Peter Morales says the city still disputes some of the lawsuit's claims, including that officers broke Burrell's wrist while handcuffing him.

Morales says the decision to pay Burrell's estate $100,000 prevented the possibility of a more expensive trial.

"The fact of settlement does not mean any admission of guilt on the part of the city," Morales said.

Morales says seizure training for officers has been in the works since August of 2012.

"If we can teach them about those subtle signs to at least start asking maybe one more question will prevent an unfortunate situation," Morales said.

Jennifer Houston with the Epilepsy Foundation of Colorado is training all 650 Aurora police officers.

Aurora police are learning someone in the middle of a seizure is basically unconscious with their eyes open.

They might be confused, appear drunk or high, or even lash out unintentionally.

The foundation gets at least 15 reports a year from people across Colorado who have been falsely arrested for having a seizure.

"Knowledge is power. People can be very combative and it can be looked at as drug or alcohol intoxication," Houston said.

The foundation says more than 50,000 Coloradoans are living with epilepsy and 1 in 10 people will have a seizure in their lifetime.

Attorney Mari Newman sued the city of Aurora on behalf of Burrell and his family.

"Rickey and Evelyn's goal was always to make this world safer for people who suffer seizures like he does. To make sure this didn't happen to anybody else and they've succeeded in making that happen. So this is an incredible legacy for Rickey to leave behind," Newman said,

Training for officers will continue in Aurora through the end of the February.

Officer Charged With Threatening Man Who Called 911

(Memphis) An off-duty Memphis police officer, accused of threatening a man by getting the victim’s phone number from the 911 call center, is now under arrest.

Officer Darrell Malone will be prosecuted for harassment.

This comes more than three months after the incident was first reported.

The victim says he’s relieved the DA’s office is taking action.

“I’m tickled pink,” said Michael Montgomery, who thought the county forgot about his case.

“I had some real concerns that it was just being dropped.”

But it looks like someone believed he had one against Officer Malone.

He’s been arrested for harassment. Court documents show the officer turned himself in Monday after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.

Montgomery first came forward demanding action back in October.

“It’s a complete abuse of power,” said. ”He stepped across a line that shouldn`t be stepped across.”

Montgomery says Malone flashed a gun at him on Germantown Parkway and threatened him.

When Montgomery called 911 for help, the off-duty officer was able to get Montgomery’s personal cell phone number from 911 Dispatcher Jenny Rice,.

Montgomery told us, “I got a phone call from a blocked cell phone number. It was the off-duty police officer again who had gotten my information from dispatch. He was making more threats to me.”

Since then, Montgomery has wanted Officer Malone charged with a crime, but MPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau decided Malone didn’t commit one and put him back on the job November 27th.

Now, the police department says he’s relieved of duty, again, but won’t say when that happened or why.

Montgomery’s just glad to know the system works, even if it takes a while.

“If you fight the system, it will work for you,” said Montgomery. ”You just have to knuckle down and bear with it. It may not be what you want immediately but in the end you are going to get your results.”

Officer Malone’s first court hearing has been set for April 5th. Montgomery says prosecutors tell him he has a right to attend all of Malone’s hearings but doubts he’ll go to them

Man claims false arrest by Cerro Gordo deputy

MASON CITY — A Hancock County man has filed a lawsuit against Cerro Gordo County and a sheriff’s deputy claiming he was falsely arrested and imprisoned.

Cody Kramer, 20, filed the lawsuit against the county and Deputy Mitchell Kruse.

According to the lawsuit, Kruse allegedly arrested Kramer on Aug. 28, 2012, and transported him to the Cerro Gordo County Jail where he was detained against his will for more than three hours.

During the time he was detained, Kramer allegedly was falsely accused of committing numerous burglaries in Cerro Gordo County.

According to court documents, the “unjust imprisonment” caused damages including deprivation of Kramer’s civil rights, humiliation, severe mental distress, damage to his reputation and exposure to public hatred and ridicule.

Kramer is also claiming his constitutional rights, including the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and free from an arrest in the absence of probable cause, were violated.

Kramer is demanding a jury trial and seeking an unspecified amount for actual and punitive damages plus interest.

According to online court records, Kramer was not charged with any crime in August 2012.

— By Laura Bird

Officer suspended over tavern fight

MUNCIE — City police officer Bret Elam will be suspended for 10 days without pay and enter a diversion program in the wake of allegations he beat a man in a local tavern.

Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings on Friday issued a report indicating he would not file criminal charges against Elam or ex-Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle.

Cummings had been appointed to evaluate allegations that, in separate incidents, Elam and Winkle struck patrons at the Silo, 223 S. Walnut St., in the early morning hours of Dec. 9.

Both men were part of a group of revelers that left a Christmas Party that night at the eastside Fraternal Order of Police lodge and rode a bus to the downtown bar.

In his report, filed in Delaware Circuit Court 1, Cummings said his investigation determined the Silo was the site of “after-parties” for participants in two holiday gatherings, one originating at the FOP and the other for a local hair salon.

“The evidence suggests that most individuals in the respective parties, including most of the named witnesses and participants in the two conflicts under investigation at the Silo Bar, were heavily intoxicated,” Cummings wrote.

Cummings said there was “evidence to believe” Winkle struck a man in the tavern, inflicting a “minor injury to his left eye.”

But the Madison County prosecutor said he “developed serious reservations about the veracity and credibility” of Winkle’s accuser, saying the man became “confrontational, belligerent and accusatory” when questioned about inconsistencies in his accounts.

The man’s “hostility and lack of cooperation are so profound that I am so unwilling to call him as a witness in any proceeding that I have responsibility to prosecute,” Cummings wrote.

“Therefore, no charges will be filed against Joseph Winkle.”

After the incident involving Winkle, Cummings said, the former police chief left the tavern.

At that point, participants in the hair salon after-party “became angry, and confronted” Winkle’s son, Chase.

“A large angry crowd cornered Chase and his date in a very threatening manner,” the prosecutor said.

Elam came to the younger Winkle’s defense by confronting “the loudest and most outspoken member of the group confronting Chase Winkle,” according to the special prosecutor.

In an ensuing “physical struggle” with Elam, that man “sustained minor injuries to his lip, left ear, left eye and scalp.”

Cummins said his decision to allow Elam to enter into a diversion program — avoiding prosecution if he in no way harasses his alleged victim, or otherwise violates the law, for six months — was based on the officer’s lack of a prior criminal record and because “his actions were provoked by the alleged victim.”

Muncie Police Chief Steve Stewart said Friday that Cummings had contacted him and asked what internal sanctions Elam would likely face over the Silo incident.

Stewart said Elam’s 10-day suspension — which begins Monday — would have been imposed even if the special prosecutor had taken no action in the case.

Cummins was appointed to evaluate the incidents because Delaware County Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold, who had also attended the earlier FOP party, was at the Silo that night.

Drug dealing cops, drunk cops, murdering cops, where the hell is the justice department?

Minneapolis, Minnesota: A state trooper, who was named Cop of the Year in 2002, has been found guilty of theft by swindle and four counts of forgery. She took $1,500 from the International Association of Women Police, and when a coworker discovered the money missing, she falsified a checkbook register and financial records in an attempt to make the withdrawal appear legitimate. She resigned after the incident. ow.ly/hvr2z

Nelsonville, Ohio: An cop was in court on a third-degree felony charge of tampering with evidence levied against him. He is on paid administrative leave. http://ow.ly/hvGuy

Update: Albemarle County, Virginia: A now-former police lieutenant has pleaded guilty to embezzlement and was sentenced to 10 days in jail. He later returned the $380 that he stole from a petty cash fund. The lieutenant had been an cop for 27 years. http://ow.ly/hvNSU

Madison County, Tennessee: Two former law-enforcement cops were in court, on unrelated charges. One was being charged with stealing money from the passenger in a car. The other has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, employing a weapon during the commission of a dangerous felony, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated assault. http://ow.ly/hvR6S

•Somerset, Massachusetts: An cop has been arrested and charged with larceny under $250 by false pretenses, two counts of possession of a class E substance and two counts of possession of a class C substance. http://ow.ly/hvU4m

•Bismarck, North Dakota: An cop has pleaded not guilty to roughing up suspects during two separate arrests. A grand jury indicted him on four counts. http://ow.ly/hw4Jv

•Alger County, Michigan: A deputy is facing possible charges following the investigation into an alleged assault of an inmate. The deputy is now on administrative leave. http://ow.ly/hw98j

•Naperville, Illinois: The wife of a man killed in a motorcycle accident involving a state trooper has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, blaming the cop. ow.ly/hwaVa

•Swansea, Massachusetts: A long-time police cop is facing drunken driving charges. He reportedly left the scene of a crash; the responding cop claims the offending cop drove over a snow bank and away from the cop when he first approached the car. ow.ly/htTg9

•Abita Springs, Louisiana: A police lieutenant was found guilty of cocaine distribution. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison after a judge decided that he fit the definition of a habitual offender. ow.ly/htPzr

•Henderson County, North Carolina: A state trooper has been arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. His driver’s license was immediately revoked during his arrest, and he resigned from his position. ow.ly/htCmV

•Martinsburg, West Virginia: A woman has filed a lawsuit against a sheriff’s deputy and the Berkeley County Council for being falsely arrested and wrongfully imprisoned after spending a night in jail. ow.ly/ht6nj

•Houston County, Georgia: An appeals court affirmed a federal court ruling that a former state trooper did not have arguable probable cause to arrest a man who cursed him during an incident. They found that the man’s speech was protected.  ow.ly/ht4mB

•San Luis Obiuspo, California: A detective has been arrested by the FBI and charged with one count of bribery in a criminal complaint. The Department of Justice Report says, “he allegedly took cash and narcotics from two individuals. In return, the police cop allegedly provided these ‘cooperating witnesses’ with narcotics for their own use, as well as fake drugs to sell to drug dealers.” ow.ly/ht3V2

•Miami-Dade, Florida: The police department has fired a sergeant and two cops and suspended three others without pay in what is considered one of the worst incidents of delinquency in the department’s history. The accusation include: failing to respond to emergency calls, pretending to be on calls when they weren’t and falsifying police records. ow.ly/hrQER

•Indianapolis, Indiana: An cop has been charged with three counts of robbery and three counts of official misconduct. He is accused of robbing men during traffic stops. ow.ly/hredj

•Tattnall County, Georgia: A deputy was sentenced to nine years in prison for selling illegal drugs he stole from the evidence room. ow.ly/hrd95

•Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania: An cop has been fired. He allegedly used “unreasonable force” on a suspect in custody and then lied about the incident. The mayor recommended he be fired for “conduct unbecoming a police cop.” ow.ly/hr9wW

•Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A police cop has been charged; he fired 13 bullets in the direction of a building. After the police were called to the scene, he made a false 911 call to distract them. http://ow.ly/hoLTn

Update: Miami, Florida: Another cop has been charged. He recently resigned while under investigation and pleaded guilty to extortion charges. The charges are related to a FBI corruption probe involving a police-protection racket for a sports-betting ring operating out of a barbershop. http://ow.ly/hoOnU

•Hanford, California: An cop entered a no-contest plea to carrying narcotics with intent to sell. He has resigned from the department. Two witnesses testified that the cop supplied them with prescription drugs, drug paraphernalia, and meth. http://ow.ly/hoWmD

•Independence, Iowa: A police cop who had an expired driver’s license when his cruiser hit a woman’s car is being sued. A councilman says that they city will defend the cop, but that the cop clearly screwed up and got caught in this situation. ow.ly/hnX7K

•Quantico, Virginia: Virginia State Police are conducting a criminal investigation of the Quantico Police Department after an audit revealed $1,000 in cash was missing, along with marijuana and a handgun belonging to the police chief. The chief resigned after he took a polygraph test. http://ow.ly/hjnYw

•Boulder City, Nevada: Police Lieutenant Pieter Walkers murdered his wife and son before committing suicide. http://ow.ly/hjohH

•Petersburg, Virginia: The son of the police chief, also a police cop, is facing a DWI charge and allegations of driving that could have endangered lives. He failed all standard field sobriety tests and refused a breath test. Another cop obtained a warrant for his blood, but test results have not yet returned an exact blood alcohol content reading. http://ow.ly/hkjq6

•Huntington, West Virginia: A men has filed a federal lawsuit against a police cop and the city, alleging the cop violated his civil rights by beating him with a deadly weapon after he had been handcuffed. http://ow.ly/hkmdl

•Update: Everett, Washington: The death of a mentally ill man at the jail has been ruled a homicide. Homicide is a medical term that means a person died as a result of another’s actions. It is up to police and prosecutors to decide whether those actions may constitute a crime, such as manslaughter or murder, or were legally justified. Police officials said the case remains under active investigation. http://ow.ly/hkn2H

•Dayton, Ohio: A lawsuit filed by a mother and her mentally challenged son against the city and two police cops has been settled for $10,000. The suit claimed police cops assaulted the boy after mistaking his speech impediment for disrespect. http://ow.ly/hknDO

•Update: Culpeper, Virginia: A jury found an cop guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman. He could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on the 

manslaughter conviction, one to five for shooting into an occupied vehicle and two to 10 for shooting into a vehicle resulting in death. http://ow.ly/hkpdV

•Update: San Diego, California: Six women arrested during the Occupy protests are suing the law enforcement agencies over a range of alleged civil-rights abuses. One has said that law-enforcement cops used excessive force to arrest her. ow.ly/hlpb7

•Camden, New Jersey: An cop was sentenced to 46 months in prison. While in uniform and on duty, he engaged in a conspiracy with other cops to deprive individuals of their rights by charging them with planted evidence; threatening certain individuals with arrest using planted evidence if they did not cooperate with law enforcement; conducting illegal searches without a search warrant or consent; stealing money during illegal searches and arrests; paying for cooperation and information with illegal drugs; failing to report found drugs and stashing them to use as planted evidence; and preparing false police reports or testifying falsely in court to conceal his actions. ow.ly/hlmSO

Plaintiff alleges he was incarcerated for 33 days

Second officer charged with sexual assault of a female inmate

MARIETTA — A second sergeant with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting an inmate.

Sgt. Kristopher David Travitz of Douglasville, a 14-year veteran with the agency, was arrested Saturday and charged with sexually assaulting a female inmate, according to a criminal warrant.

The incident occurred between Oct. 21, 2010, and March 7, 2011, in a vehicle while the inmate was being transported from one building to another at the Cobb County Jail, Sheriff Neil Warren said.

Travitz, 37, served as supervisor over the work release program at the time of the alleged incident.

Travitz was immediately fired Saturday, Warren said. He is now being held without bond in the Bartow County jail.

The case follows the Jan. 17 arrest of Sgt. Blake Sutherland, who was charged with aggravated sexual battery and sexual assault of an inmate after she complained to authorities.

Warren launched an investigation, which resulted in Sutherland’s arrest and termination.

Sutherland, whose bond was revoked, is being held in the Douglas County jail.

At the time, Warren told the Marietta Daily Journal he would find out how the assault happened. During the course of the investigation, Warren said investigators heard rumors that led them to question another woman, who had since been released from custody.

“We had to seek her out once we found out about this information,” Warren said. “She told our investigators during the interviews what took place.”

When questioned about the 2010 incident, Travitz allegedly lied to investigators that the inmate never visited him at his house. In fact, a GPS tracker attached to her ankle by Cobb Drug Court revealed that she was at his house for about 45 minutes, according to the warrant.

Warren said potential employees are subjected to rigorous background checks, including a psychological evaluation.

“There was nothing, nothing in their backgrounds to indicate he or Sutherland, either one, had an issue being — I’m going to say acting in a perverted way because to me it is perverted,” Warren said. “I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for the dedicated men and women of the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. They work hard, and this looks so bad, and I know it does, and I’m not going to stand for it, and I’m going to continue to find out why it’s happening, and if it’s happening, I can assure you I’m going to bring it to the forefront and do my best to have them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

In addition to sexual assault by a law enforcement employee, Travitz is charged with violation of oath by a public officer, aggravated sexual battery, false statements or writings, concealment of facts or fraudulent documents in matters of government. All are felonies.

The officer accused of holding a gun to another man’s head at a party

The growing issue of mentally unstable cops................ 

Grand Forks, North Dakota: The officer accused of holding a gun to another man’s head at a party pleaded not guilty in court. He faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison if he is convicted because a weapon was used. The felony charge of terrorizing carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. ow.ly/hjckH

From Police Misconduct.Net

Why we Need National Mandatory IQ Testing for Cops: Ensenada Cop accidentally shoots self in head

Why we Need National Mandatory IQ Testing for Cops: Ensenada Cop accidentally shoots self in head

Officer allegedly kills himself while playing with gun off-duty.  Cops were called to the scene of an accidental shooting in Ensenada on Monday, January 21st, slightly after midnight. When officers arrived at the private residence they found an off-duty municipal cop, Fernando Enciso Contreras, dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Two witnesses at the home, one whom is also a cop and owner of the residence, claim that the victim pulled the gun playfully from his pants and accidentally discharged it aiming at his head. Baja state police and prosecutors are investigating the case as a possible homicide. 

Fairfax cop Alexandra Neff, arrested in theft

Fairfax police officer arrested in theft

By Justin Jouvenal

A 12-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department was arrested in December for allegedly attempting to take a purse and blouse from a department store, authorities said.

Officer Alexandra Neff, who works in the patrol bureau, allegedly concealed the items without paying for them at Lord & Taylor at the Dulles Town Center, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

Store officials contacted police about the incident around 5 p.m. on Dec. 28,. police said. Neff was charged with petit larceny, which is a misdemeanor.

A Fairfax County police spokesman said Neff has been placed on administrative duties, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Neff’s attorney said she is not guilty.

“She maintains her innocence and she looks forward to showing that in court,” Edward J. Nuttall said.

Fairfax County police ticket policy scrutinized

 

By Justin Jouvenal

Drivers often suspect officers are trying to fill a ticket quota when they get pulled over, but a memo that went to a Fairfax County police squad laid out in black and white exactly how many citations it had to issue.

In case any officers missed the point, supervisors at the Sully District Station in Chantilly underlined the pertinent section: “Either 2 summonses or 1 summons and 1 warning must be issued and entered per day on average.”

Fairfax police officials quickly tossed out the performance standards after The Washington Post obtained a copy of the memo and began asking questions about it.

Officials said the standards violated the department’s standing policy against the controversial practice of ticket quotas, which are illegal in some states and many say put pressure on officers to hand out tickets for marginal offenses.

“It was an innocent mistake, not malicious,” said Lt. Col. Edwin C. Roessler Jr., deputy chief of police for patrol. “It was rescinded immediately. That’s not the way we do business.”

Roessler said it did not appear that the “minimum standards” outlined in the “Squad Expectations and Operational Instructions” affected the ticket production of the squad. He also said that he had not found any officers who had been disciplined as a result of missing that mark and that if he did, he would overturn the punishment.

Roessler also said he was conducting an audit to ensure similar standards were not in effect elsewhere in the department.

The memo, issued by 2nd Lt. Tim Burgess and Sgt. David Kuhar on Oct. 1, went to only about 12 officers on one squad, police said. The county police department has 48 squads and additional special units at its eight stations.

Nevertheless, it raised some eyebrows. Fairfax County Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R) said that traffic is the top issue for his constituents in the Sully District but that police supervisors missed the mark with the standards.

“If it’s a mandate, it goes too far,” Frey said. “If it’s an encouragement, it’s probably poorly worded. I would certainly be more comfortable encouraging aggressive enforcement rather than having hard and fast numbers.”

In the memo, the ticket guidelines were included among 20 standards for performance, including returning calls in the same work cycle they are received, refraining from sexual or racist jokes, and respecting senior officers.

Most police departments publicly eschew ticket quotas as a sole measure of an officer’s performance, saying they do not capture the disparate tasks that go into good policing. In addition, they are usually not popular among officers or the public, which bears the brunt of the policy.

Chris Cochrane, president of the Fairfax Coalition of Police union, declined to comment on the memo, saying he was unfamiliar with the specifics of the case, but he added that “as far as the union knows, there is no ticket quota” in the Fairfax police department.

It’s not the first time that an area police department’s ticket-writing practices have been scrutinized. In April, Arlington County’s police chief acknowledged a series of memos dating back years that required officers to make a minimum number of arrests and traffic citations.

Chief M. Douglas Scott said the directives did not constitute a quota system but could have been interpreted that way.

In 2004, union officials with the Falls Church police revealed that officers were required to make three arrests and issue three traffic citations during a 12-hour shift. Officers said the policy encouraged them to pursue offenses that could be written up quickly, such as a broken headlight, instead of more time-consuming work, such as pulling over a drunk driver. The quotas were later rescinded.

Some states ban ticket quotas. In Maryland, law enforcement agencies cannot enact formal or informal quotas or use such numbers as the sole standard in evaluating officer’s performance for promotions or demotions. Virginia does not have such a law.

Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said police departments face a careful balancing act when it comes to setting goals for officers’ performance.

“While quotas are never the right thing to do, there has to be a level of expectation for officers,” Wexler said.

After reviewing the memo, Wexler said he thought the Fairfax police supervisors had struck the right balance with a comprehensive set of standards by which to measure officers that went beyond just ticket production.

The city of Chicago will pay $22.5 million to a mentally ill woman who was attacked after being released by police into a dangerous neighborhood. MyFoxChicago.com reports the City Council agreed to settle the police misconduct case of 27-year-old Christina Eilman for the sum Tuesday. Eilman, who is bipolar, was arrested in 2006 after having a breakdown and causing a disturbance at Midway Airport. Though her parents called numerous times to try and explain her condition, police officers released Eilman into a section of the South Side that a federal judge compared to a lion's den. MyFoxChicago.com reports Eilman was attacked, raped and then fell seven stories from a high-rise. She suffered a permanent brain injury, and now requires constant care. The city proposed a $22.5 million settlement to her family, which the City Council Finance Committee approved unanimously. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/16/chicago-settles-mentally-ill-woman-police-misconduct-case-for-record-22-million

Chicago taxpayers will pay $33 million dollars in the settlement of two police misconduct cases.
If approved by, the full city council it is believed to be the single largest payments of its kind in Chicago’s history.
Today, the city council finance committee approved the settlements of the two cases.
In one case, a woman was left to survive in the projects on her own after Chicago police dropped her there in 2006. Now in her late 20′s, Christina Eilman will get $22.5 million dollars. Police dropped the bipolar woman from California at a housing project in May of that year. She was sexually assaulted at knifepoint before falling seven stories. Today, she is permanently disabled.
In the other case, and a man sent to prison for 26 years for a murder he did not commit. 59-year-old Alton Logan stands to receive $10 million dollars after police covered up evidence in a 1982 murder that put him behind bars for 26 years. Andrew Wilson later confessed to the crime .but until Wilson’s death, former police commander Jon Burge’s men blamed Logan.
The full city council is set to vote on the settlement on Thursday. The lawyer for Eilman does not want to speak until the vote comes through.

Chicago settles mentally ill woman's police misconduct

The city of Chicago will pay $22.5 million to a mentally ill woman who was attacked after being released by police into a dangerous neighborhood.
MyFoxChicago.com reports the City Council agreed to settle the police misconduct case of 27-year-old Christina Eilman for the sum Tuesday.
Eilman, who is bipolar, was arrested in 2006 after having a breakdown and causing a disturbance at Midway Airport. Though her parents called numerous times to try and explain her condition, police officers released Eilman into a section of the South Side that a federal judge compared to a lion's den.
MyFoxChicago.com reports Eilman was attacked, raped and then fell seven stories from a high-rise. She suffered a permanent brain injury, and now requires constant care.
The city proposed a $22.5 million settlement to her family, which the City Council Finance Committee approved unanimously.

former police officer charged in North Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH -- An Horry County school teacher and former police officer is facing assault charges following an incident in a Wal-Mart parking lot, according to authorities.
Kevin Lee Duke, 48, of Little River was booked into the North Myrtle Beach Jail at 8:53 a.m. Dec. 23 and released on $2,500 bail the same day, charged with second-degree assault and battery and third-degree assault and battery, according to jail records.
Duke had worked with Horry County Schools since Dec. 12, which was five days before the winter break, after he was hired to teach at St. James High School, said Teal Harding, Horry County Schools spokeswoman. Duke has been placed on leave with pay pending an investigation.

Duke had worked with Horry County police since May 1991 until he retired as a lieutenant in November 2011, said Lisa Bourcier, Horry County spokeswoman. He returned to work as a patrol officer on Nov. 16, 2011 and then left on May 20.
The charges stem from an incident about 6 p.m. Dec. 21, when North Myrtle Beach police were called to the Wal-Mart parking lot at 550 North U.S. 17 in the city limits for an assault, according to a police report. Officers learned that the victims were taken to Seacoast Medical Center by EMS, so they went to that location.
A 51-year-old man and his 47-year-old wife, whose hometown was redacted from the report, told police that they were in the parking lot waiting for a parking space in Row 8 when the incident occurred, according to the report. The woman told police that she got out of their car to retrieve a shopping cart and her husband was driving their vehicle and waited for a parking spot to open.
While there, the woman said a man driving a silver BMW was behind their vehicle and the driver revved its engine, according to the report. The woman said the BMW driver quickly pulled around their vehicle blew his horn and flashed his lights at her husband in their vehicle.
The woman said when the parking space was free, her husband pulled their vehicle into it and the BMW driver pulled up beside her, according to the report. The woman said the driver, who was identified as Duke, cursed at her and her husband before he jumped out of his vehicle.
The woman said Duke attacked her husband, punching him in the head, face and body several times as she tried to pull him away and yelled for him to stop, according to the report. The woman said Duke turned and started to punch her, but her husband pulled her away and Duke began to punch her husband again.
The woman got Duke’s license plate number and called 911, according to the report. The woman said Duke then got back in his vehicle and drove away.
Police said the tag was registered to Duke for a GMC Canyon.
Soon after the incident, Duke called North Myrtle Beach police to report he had been assaulted in the parking lot of the store, but he refused to return to the scene or meet with police, according to the report. Officers got surveillance video that showed Duke as the aggressor in the incident.
“Mr. Duke jumped out of his vehicle unprovoked and initiated the assault against both” victims, the officer wrote in the report.
The male victim suffered three broken bones in his head, a black eye and cuts to his eye that required stitches, according to the report. The female victim had marks on her cheek, ear and arm.

Read more here: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/01/16/3276741/horry-county-teacher-former-police.html#storylink=cpy

Deptford police officer charged with murder denied pay while suspended

The Deptford police officer charged with murder has been suspended from the municipal police force without pay, the township mayor confirmed late Tuesday.
James A. Stuart, 29, of Deptford, was initially suspended with pay after the Jan. 5 shooting in which David Compton, 27, of Woodbury was shot in the head at Stuart’s Stanford Avenue home.
Stuart, who called 911 at 5 a.m. the day Compton was shot, was initially charged with two counts of aggravated assault. The charges were upgraded to first-degree murder Friday when Compton was taken off life support and died early Friday morning.
“It has something to do with the charges being changed,” said Deptford Mayor Paul Medany, who said he was made aware of the pay status changes late Tuesday.
John Eastlack, Stuart’s attorney, filed a temporary restraining order Friday to keep the Gloucester County police communications center from releasing the audio recording of the 911 call, which the South Jersey Times has filed a records request to obtain.
Under the Open Public Records Act, the county would be required to respond to the request by today.
However, on Tuesday Superior Court Judge Georgia Curio signed the temporary restraining order. On Friday, Curio is scheduled to hear Eastlack’s request for an order to protect the audio from disclosure under OPRA.

Retired officer, son charged with murder

State police, Rio Rancho police and Albuquerque police arrested 56-year-old Jack McDowell and 36-year-old John McDowell at a home in the 100 block of Mica Drive in Rio Rancho on Tuesday morning. Both were taken into custody without incident.

Jack McDowell is a retired New Mexico State Police officer. Because he was a police officer, authorities said they took tactical precautions during the arrest.

Everyone who lives in the Mica Drive neighborhood said they knew the McDowells.

Residents said they knew John McDowell had a history with police, so they assumed he was at the center of the commotion they heard Tuesday morning.

The arrests capped an 18-month investigation into the death of 35-year-old James Chavez.

"This is one of those cases that has kinda haunted us," Rio Rancho Police Sgt. Nick Onken said.

Investigators spent much of the day going in and out of the McDowell home looking for evidence.

"This has been a very long and tumultuous investigation with leads and losses of those leads over the past 18 months," Onken said.

The case was launched 18 months ago when rescue officials got a 911 about Chavez' slaying. Soon after that, the father and son were on police radar.

Two South Bend police officers suspended, one may be fired after gas station prank

SOUTH BEND – A South Bend police officer disciplined for punching an inmate at the St. Joseph County jail is in trouble again. This time, the interim chief is asking the Public Safety Board to fire Patrolman Theo Robert for interfering with an internal investigation.
It stems from a prank two other officers played on a local gas station clerk last summer on Miami Street.
WSBT sat down with the clerk a few months later, in October, to get his side of the story but chose not to report it until now because we wanted to wait for the truth to come out.
“I looked up to these guys,” 7-Eleven clerk Jonny Ferguson said in an interview last fall.
He said one big reason he respects police officers is he always wanted to be one.
“They’re protecting me and everything and I know when I’m there. I’m safe because of them,” he added.
Ferguson said he never minded when midnight shift officers stopped by the gas station to use the restroom or grab a cup of coffee while he worked the register, but one night last summer patrolmen Eric Mentz and Aaron Knepper took advantage of their friendship and his ADHD learning disability.
He also said the officers offered him money and a meal if he’d take the “cinnamon challenge” and eat a teaspoon of cinnamon without throwing up.
“The first one was like $32 and a free meal at Applebees,” he recounted.
When he couldn’t complete that, they challenged him to eat 10 saltine crackers in a minute, offering more money and another free meal.
“I puked for like a good four hours,” Ferguson added.
Knepper even recorded it on his cell phone then posted it to the internet but took it down when Ferguson expressed concern that he might lose his job.
At the time, Ferguson’s sister said she was angry.
“It makes me feel horrible. I may be his little sister, but I’m still his sister and I love him, but Jonathan would break his back for you and he doesn’t even know you. So just because he may have a disability he’s not retarded,” Amber Coppler told WSBT.
Interim Police Chief Chuck Hurley said an internal investigation determined those officers acted inappropriately, but he doesn’t think they took advantage of Ferguson.
“I think at that point in time, they should have said, ‘Hey, we’re police officers, we’re on duty, we have no business being involved in this,’” said Hurley.
Ferguson said he’s embarrassed but still sees the good in police.
“I still want to dedicate myself to being a cop. I know that at least I won't be one of those type of cops,” he said.
After an internal investigation, Hurley suspended Mentz for one day and Knepper for two for pulling the prank. In his disciplinary notice, Knepper wrote, “I would like to apologize for my actions – I never intended to act unprofessionally or attract any unwanted media attention on the department.”
Patrolman Robert is accused of making two trips to the gas station a few weeks after the incident, alongside a phone call to the manager identifying himself as a police officer and demanding the surveillance video be released to a local TV station, even though he had nothing to do with the prank itself.
Hurley recommended Robert’s termination because of his history on the department. He served a 30-day suspension after a July 2010 incident when he punched an inmate at the St. Joseph County jail.
The 7-11 incident has resulted in accusations that Robert violated the department’s code of ethics, used his position as a police officer to get information, lied to the department’s internal affairs officer and publicly criticized the department.
He has the opportunity to contest Hurley’s request to the Board of Public Safety. 

THE NAACP VALLEJO BRANCH

"THE NAACP VALLEJO BRANCH HAS CANCELED OUR ANNUAL MARTIN LUTHER KING PARADE IN VALLEJO AT A TIME AT A TIME WHEN VALLEJO FAMILES ARE CRYING OUT FOR HELP AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY CITING A QUIRK IN THEIR SCHEDULE , WE WILL NOT LET OUR HISTORY BE CANCELED OR DISREGARDED BECAUSE WE ARE PEOPLE TOO , OUR STRUGGLES ARE NOT FOR NOTHING,

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A MARCH AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY , MURDER, RACIAL PROFILING AND INTIMIDATION TACTICS USED BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS"

http://www.facebook.com/JusticeForMarioRomero

Lawsuit alleges police brutality, use of racial slur

A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last Thursday on behalf of a Cottage Grove resident accuses members of the Cottage Grove Police Department of excessive force, false imprisonment, battery and other rights violations.

Representatives of Matthew Susumu Waggoner filed suit alleging that officers beat Waggoner and that one officer used a racial slur during Waggoner’s subsequent time in the Cottage Grove Jail following an incident that occurred on Dec. 15, 2011.

The suit requests a jury trial and names the City of Cottage Grove and officers Tami Howell, Jarrod Butler, Doug Skaggs, David Burgin, Police Chief Mike Grover and two unnamed officers as defendants.

The lawsuit’s introduction describes its purpose as a “civil action for damages stemming from the unlawful arrest of Plaintiff without warrant, reasonable suspicion, probable cause, or exigent circumstances, and the excessive use of force in arresting and lodging Plaintiff Matthew Susumu Waggoner in jail based in part on Plaintiff’s Japanese ancestry.”

The suit states that on Dec. 15, 2011 at about 4:10 p.m., officers Howell, Burgin and Butler responded to a possible burglary in progress at a home on Adams Street in Cottage Grove. There, they spotted Waggoner walking away from them toward 10th Street. The suit states that it was already dark outside at that time and the plaintiff had been visiting a friend.

Anaheim to Develop Proposal for Greater Oversight of Police

The debate in Anaheim about police conduct has become so contentious that at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting Police Chief John Welter publicly accused a former council candidate of spreading “bullshit lies” during the public comments portion of the meeting.
The accusation came just after the City Council unanimously directed City Manager Bob Wingenroth to develop a specific proposal for a police oversight body that would include civilians.

A clearly angry Welter confronted Duane Roberts, a frequent critic of the Police Department on OrangeJuice Blog, in the crowded council chambers lobby and told Roberts to speak with the chief before maligning him at council meetings.
“Do I get a chance to refute all the bullshit lies you say at council? No,” Welter said.
That the police chief would publicly berate a resident and insist that the chief be allowed to vet the criticism before it goes public raised concerns among some about a possible chilling effect on residents who witnessed the confrontation.
West Anaheim resident Art Castillo, who was present during the exchange, called Welter’s tirade “intimidation” toward residents who want to make public their grievances about the police department.
Welter is “not listening to the people who are the victims,” Castillo said.
During public comments, Roberts challenged Welter’s claim in an Al-Jazeera documentary that he didn’t know about a military-style police unit that had been dispatched to patrol the city after a downtown riot in the wake of a string of fatal police shootings. Rioters damaged 20 downtown businesses.
In video aired by Al Jazeera, cadres of officers in military fatigues are seen brandishing assault rifles while hitched to sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. Critics had said the scene looked more like a military occupation of a foreign country than an American police patrol.
Roberts had said during public comments that he saw an officer on a motorcycle who looked like Welter. Roberts speculated that he struck a nerve with the chief by indicating that Welter may have been overseeing what he acknowledged to Al-Jazeera was a regrettable and excessive display of force.
“Now you see why people don’t file complaints about police officers,” Roberts said.
Welter quickly departed after a Voice of OC reporter began taking notes during the confrontation. He could not be reached for comment later in the evening.
Mayor Tom Tait said that it’s “tough to comment” on an incident he didn’t witness. Wingenroth said that he would “look into it.”
Police Oversight
The council’s direction to Wingenroth to assemble a police oversight proposal — first proposed by Tait last month — is a response to weeks of unrest in the city last July that was sparked by a series of fatal police shootings.
“Accountability, transparency, independent oversight makes any organization better,” Tait said.
The council considered four police review models. They included an individual auditor or ombudsman with the power to conduct an investigation; an auditor who would have only the power to review internal affairs examinations; a civilian review board to review investigations; and an “investigative” model that would have an independent agency or board composed of civilian investigators.
Ultimately, the council directed Wingenroth to develop a proposal he thought was best and would include civilians in the process. Wingenroth said after the meeting that he hasn’t chosen a model yet but would consider council comments in his decision.
There are questions as to the effectiveness of civilian review boards.
While some cities across the state have civilian oversight bodies, public access to their findings and deliberations was significantly curtailed by the 2006 California Supreme Court decision in the Copley Press v. Superior Court case.
The court ruled against the San Diego Union-Tribune's request for access to transcripts and other documents relating to a San Diego Civil Service Commission hearing on the termination of a San Diego County sheriff's deputy. Open-government advocates said the decision effectively shut down civilian oversight in California.
Welter and Kerry Condon, president of the Anaheim Police Association, expressed opposition to a potential civilian oversight board.
Welter argued that the police department already has at least four layers of both internal and external oversight. He said he fears a civilian oversight board would inhibit officers from taking necessary action in dangerous situations.
There were eight homicides, 58 gun assaults and 48 non-gun assaults by gang members in 2012, according to Deputy Police Chief Raul Quezada.
Relatives of police shooting victims and other activists have contended that police officers shoot with impunity.
“It’s part of the job. We face people who are undesirable, and they want to kill us,” Welter said. “If the [district attorney] finds that an officer murdered someone, assassinated someone, like some of these people at the podium are alleging, I will be the first to ask them to prosecute.”
After a police shooting, the district attorney’s office conducts a criminal investigation, Welter said. Meanwhile, the police department conducts a review of the situation by its internal affairs department and Major Incident Review Team, which reviews training, policies and equipment, Welter said.
And while critics argue that the DA is too close to the police department to conduct an unbiased review, Welter argued that such concerns are not valid. He cited the DA’s prosecution of an Anaheim officer who had committed a sexual assault as evidence.
Welter described at least one of the police department’s oversight entities — the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review — as a civilian oversight body with experts in excessive force and civil rights law.
The city has for four years contracted, at Welter’s request, with the organization to analyze internal reviews of use-of-force incidents and make recommendations for improvement. The goal is to eliminate the conditions that lead to police shootings, Welter said.
Issuing more polite commands, like “please don’t move,” is among those recommendations so far, Welter said.
Also, Welter said that to involve the community with the Police Department he has been working with a 22-member chief’s advisory board of represntatives from activists groups like Los Amigos of Orange County and from faith-based organizations, nonprofits, among others.
Condon said that civilian review boards come to police departments that have been plagued with corruption and that Anaheim is “nowhere near” needing one. He noted that the DA, which he said is an independent oversight body, had cleared every police officer involved in a shooting.
“There has not been a bad shooting here in Anaheim ever,” Condon said.
Theresa Smith, mother of Caesar Cruz, who was shot and killed by police in 2009, reacted with joy after the council’s decision. She said that although the board might not be transparent because of the Copley decision, an unbiased review is important to restoring trust in the police department.
“They voted unanimously to look into it, and that’s great,” Smith said.