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2 NOPD cops arrested for alleged fraud and theft

Two New Orleans Police officers allegedly lied on time sheets and stole cash intended for investigations.

"FBI Special Agents and officers in the New Orleans Police Department's Public Integrity Bureau arrested two NOPD Officers on charges of wire fraud," authorities said in a joint news release.  "The officers arrested were Rafael Dobard and Quincy Jones."

Both officers allegedly claimed hours they did not work for private details and took cash set aside for confidential investigative purposes.

The FBI provided the following information:

Dobard, age 39, 4504 Croyden Avenue, New Orleans, has served as an NOPD officer for eight years, most recently assigned as a detective to NOPD's Fourth District Narcotics Unit. It is believed that while working security details at various locations, including the BW Cooper and Guste Housing Developments, Dobard submitted timesheets to NOPD and the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) with overlapping work periods, seeking payment from each entity for the same periods of time.

Jones, age 33, and a resident of 2921 Bennett Street, New Orleans, has served as an NOPD officer for 11 years, most recently assigned to the Fourth District Narcotics Unit. It is believed that Jones also submitted timesheets with overlapping work periods to the NOPD and HANO, seeking payment from each entity for the same periods of time.

In addition to payroll fraud charges, it is also believed that both police officers were stealing money intended for confidential investigative purposes.

"As I have stated previously, the NOPD has a strict zero tolerance policy for misconduct within the New Orleans Police Department," said NOPD Chief Ronal Serpas, in response to the arrests.

"The public should know that the work of the joint PIB/FBI task force is ongoing and we will continue to work diligently to ensure transparency, accountability, collaboration and integrity within the New Orleans Police Department."

Upon their arrest by federal authorities, the officers were immediately placed on emergency suspension by the police department. Dobard and Jones were remanded into federal custody and taken to the US Marshals to await their initial appearance in federal court.

Another New Orleans police officer, Jason Cross, was charged this past Friday, November 1, in federal court with possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. In a Bill of Information, Cross, approximately 35 years of age, and most recently assigned to the NOPD's 7th District, was charged with knowingly and intentionally attempting to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride.  This investigation was also the result of the FBI/NOPD PIB Task Force.

Lawrence officer suspended after supervisor detects alcohol

LAWRENCE, Ind. - A veteran Lawrence police officer was suspended for two days without pay after tests revealed he had alcohol in his system while on the job.
Authorities said a supervisor smelled alcohol on Officer Gustavo Canas’ breath during a run early Thursday morning.
The supervisor brought Canas into the station for questioning and testing. Those tests revealed Canas had a blood-alcohol content of 0.02 percent.
Deputy Chief Curtis Bigsbee said that Canas was not drunk, but the alcohol in his system was "residual," possibly from the night before.
Bigsbee said the department has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol and drugs and the department took immediate action.
"We just want to let the public know we do take each and every incident seriously. That's why the officer took the appropriate action and that's why we have followed up with them," Bigsbee said.
Lawrence Common Council member Carl Barnett said he was surprised to hear what happened.
"My reaction was shock when I first heard it because generally our police department is good, and with the things happening in Indy with the Bisard case, we definitely don't want that here in Lawrence," Barnett said. "Hopefully, the chief through his accountability practice will have something done about this."
Canas patrols the early shift from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. His two-day suspension begins on Friday

Police officer suspended for allowing girlfriend to drive without license

NICEVILLE — A police officer was given a criminal citation and placed on administrative leave Wednesday morning after he allowed his girlfriend to drive to the police station to pick him up even though her driver license had been suspended.
Officer Michael Smith, 37, asked his girlfriend, 33-year-old Natalie Jarrett of Fort Walton Beach, to pick him up after his shift, Niceville Police Chief David Popwell said.
Smith’s supervisor knew Jarrett had a suspended driver license, Popwell said.
Jarrett arrived at the station just before 9 a.m. in Smith’s personal vehicle, according to police call logs.
Smith got into the vehicle before his supervisor stopped him and issued the citations, Popwell said.
Smith was placed on administrative leave until further notice. There will be an internal investigation, Popwell said.
“We hold police officers to a higher standard and he’s been relieved of his duty until his court date,” he said.

Attorney: Dashcam Video Lead To Suspension Of 3 Miami Police Officers

Attorney: Dashcam Video Lead To Suspension Of 3 Miami Police Officers

Baltimore police officer charged with punching juvenile in jail cell

Prosecutors charged Baltimore police officer Andrew M. Fitzgerald with assault on Tuesday after he allegedly entered a boy's cell in the city Juvenile Booking Facility and punched him in the face. Fitzgerald, a 26-year veteran, faces charges of second-degree assault and misconduct, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office said. On Feb. 17, prosecutors said, he entered the alleged victim's cell and struck the boy.

San Jose police officer accidentally shoots self

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Indianapolis cop guilty in drunken driving accident, death

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Berthoud police officer at center of domestic violence scandal fired

BERTHOUD, Colo. — A Berthoud Police officer who was suspended after his ex-girlfriend claims she sent a video of him striking a child to law enforcement has now been fired.
In a four page affidavit, the Larimer County District Attorney says the man in the video is Officer Jeremy Yachik and they’ve charged him with four counts of child abuse and one count of  false imprisonment.
Berthoud town manager Mike Hart confirmed that Yachik, 35, was indeed terminated by the Berthoud Police Department one week ago Friday, two days after being arrested at his home in Loveland.
The accuser’s video tape was first seen on KWGN earlier in October.
On September 24, Loveland Police received an email outlining child abuse allegations that Yachik had physically abused a juvenile over the last several months.
Loveland Police conducted an investigation and were granted an arrest warrant for Yachik on Tuesday. He was arrested Wednesday and taken to the Loveland Police Department where he posted bond and was later released.
A woman who says the officer is her ex-boyfriend sent the video to law enforcement officials and claims they did nothing. As a result, the police chief in Berthoud was also on leave.
In addition to the alleged criminal acts seen in the video, the affidavit for Yachik’s arrest describes alleged past crimes.
It states, “[the victim] reports having her hands bound to her back with plastic zip ties and being secluded in the laundry room of the home.” It also refers to the victim being “forced to eat ghost pepper sauce,” and “slammed [the victim’s head into the wall].”
The affidavit says police interviewed Jeremy Yachik and they wrote, “Jeremy admits he’s the one depicted in the video and admitted to the acts disclosed by the victim.”
It also details more trouble for the Berthoud police department. The question is whether the chief ignored the video when he received it in April.
The affidavit states, “In Chief Johnson’s office, evidence was collected that corroborated [the victim's] account of attempting to report this incident to [the Chief].”
Court documents in a separate case detailed more information about the accuser and the officer who is suspended. The paperwork is about a domestic violence incident that happened in March.
People in Berthoud who defend the officer say it’s that incident that led to the release of the video tape.
The court documents say Loveland police were called to the couple’s home when the Berthoud officer called to complain that his now ex-girlfriend assaulted him and was upstairs threatening suicide.
One month after the woman was charged with domestic violence, she says she sent the video that allegedly shows the officer hitting and kicking his child to the Berthoud police chief. She now accuses him of a cover up.
When police arrived at the home that day in March, investigating officers noted the man had “…Dried blood and scratches on the right side of his face.”
They also said the couple’s child had “evidence of a yellowish mark… that could have been from an old bruise.”
FOX31 Denver verified the child referred to in the court documents was not the alleged victim in the video sent to Berthoud police.
One resident we spoke to was surprised about the allegations against the officer.
Other court documents FOX31 Denver uncovered show information about an alleged fight the suspended officer had with another Berthoud officer in 2011.
The report says, “[The officer] displays threatening and violent behavior towards officers.”
Once incident is described where “[the officer] came within five inches of another officer’s face. His fists were clenched.” The writer goes on, “In all my years in law enforcement, I have never seen this type of aggressive action from one officer to another.”
The accuser in the current case faces three separate counts of domestic violence for the incident in March. They include assault and obstruction of telephone service.
She is scheduled to go on trial in December.

New Details In Previous Suspension Of Lexington Officer

We're learning more about the Lexington Police Officer accused of grabbing a 13-year-old soccer referee in Scott County after a match.

ABC 36 News now has paperwork saying Officer Keith Spears was suspended for incompetence in 2005.

A formal complaint says Spears went into a health club confronted the owner, while off duty, with his gun visible.

It says he went to a strip club while on-duty, without filling out an alcohol report.

The complaint also says he was told to go to an accident, but didn't for 45 minutes.

Spears now faces a criminal complaint from a Scott County family.

It says he grabbed and shoved their 13-year-old son during a soccer game earlier this month.

Police rarely charged in killings over fake guns

Kurtis Alexander

On a December night in 2010, two police officers were on the lookout for gang activity in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Glassell Park. When they came across three youths with guns, they were ready for trouble.

But when Officer Victor Abarca confronted and shot one of the suspects as he hid behind a van, the officer was surprised at what lay before him: a 13-year-old boy who had been carrying a plastic pellet gun while playing cops and robbers.

Rohayent "Ryan" Gomez was left paralyzed from the chest down.

The tragedy was not without consequence. A jury ordered Los Angeles to pay the teen $24 million, the biggest payout over police conduct in city history. A state legislator sought, unsuccessfully, to ban the sale of all real-looking toy guns.

But the officer was never charged with wrongdoing.

A similar call for punishment is rising now in street protests in Sonoma County, where on Oct. 22 a sheriff's deputy shot and killed 13-year-old Andy Lopez Cruz after mistaking his replica AK-47 pellet gun for a real rifle as the boy walked near his home just outside Santa Rosa.

But the deputy, Erick Gelhaus, has history on his side. Prosecutions of law-enforcement officers after line-of-duty shootings are rare, and convictions are even rarer.

This seems particularly true for cases in which officers mistook a toy gun for a real one.

A Chronicle review of 10 such cases around the country in the past 25 years found that they frequently prompted civil payouts and spurred new laws, but none resulted in criminal charges.

Prosecutors, in each case, concluded that while the officers had not faced a real threat, they thought they had.

'Existing mistrust'

For police misconduct watchdogs, this lack of punishment erodes accountability and public trust.

"The shooting adds to an existing distrust," said Michael Risher, a staff attorney for the Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. He said a thorough investigation of the shooting was vital for police-community relations.

For law-enforcement leaders, though, the fact that officers are rarely prosecuted reflects the inherently perilous job that they are asked to perform.

"Obviously, there's frustration from the community and there's anger, but these are tragic mistakes," said David Carter, a criminal justice professor at Michigan State University and a former officer in Kansas City, Mo., who wrote a congressional report on the problem of toy guns.

"A prosecution occurs if there's criminality," he said, "and there's no criminality in these cases."

The law, legal experts note, focuses not on the legitimacy of the threat but on the officer's state of mind.

This should not preclude charges in the Sonoma County killing, said John Burris, an Oakland civil rights attorney who often represents families of people killed by police. He said a case can be made that Gelhaus wildly miscalculated the threat the boy posed.

Gelhaus has told investigators that he shouted at Andy to drop the rifle after he and a colleague pulled behind the boy in a marked car. When Andy turned and the rifle barrel rose up, the deputy said, he feared for his life and fired.

Prosecution's obstacles

Burris expects investigators to examine whether Andy was adequately warned, and whether the deputy was really threatened if he was positioned behind the door of his patrol car.

"The D.A. would have to be persuaded that this, in some way, was a vast overreaction to the facts," Burris said.

Burris represented the family of Oscar Grant, the man killed in Oakland by former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle in 2009. Mehserle was charged with murder and convicted of involuntary manslaughter. That case turned on video footage - which Sonoma County authorities say doesn't exist in their case.

Burris said Andy's family is more likely to gain traction in civil court, where there is a lower standard for judgment. "It's not a case that will generate sympathy for the police," he said.

Gelhaus' attorney, Terry Leoni, said her client did what he's trained to do.

"No law enforcement officer ever wants to do this," she said. "They never go out wanting to make this decision. But they face deadly threats on a regular basis, and they have to make split-second decisions."

Her colleague Michael Rains, who represented Mehserle, said the law "discourages Monday-morning quarterbacking. As long as the deputy's actions seem reasonable, based on what is perceived at the time, there's no crime."

The Sonoma County district attorney's office must ultimately decide on whether to charge Gelhaus. Federal prosecutors, too, could allege civil rights violations.

Andy's family has hired an attorney who has been through this before. Arnoldo Casillas represented Rohayent, the boy paralyzed in Los Angeles.

Casillas argued in that case that Officer Abarca should have recognized the situation as a child's game.

People with toy guns injured or killed by police

On a number of occasions, police officers around the country have either killed or badly wounded people after mistaking toy guns for real firearms. The Chronicle reviewed 10 such cases after looking for incidents in which the victim did not appear to be carrying the fake gun with criminal intent. The cases featured common themes. They tended to involve teenage boys, though men carrying guns as part of Halloween costumes have also been shot. The officers often acted while responding to a separate, more serious threat, and they were often hampered by darkness. The shootings also tended to involve people of color. The shootings frequently resulted in lawsuits and big civil payouts by cities, and some spurred new laws regulating toy guns. But none of the officers was charged with crimes, after prosecutors repeatedly came to the same conclusion: Though the threat was not genuine, the officers believed it was in the heat of the moment. Here are some of the cases:

Jaime Gonzalez; Brownsville, Texas

What happened: Two officers fatally shot the 15-year-old boy in a hall at his middle school on Jan. 4, 2012. Police said Jaime threatened the officers with what was later determined to be a pellet gun. The boy's family said the officers came in "guns blazing."

Outcome: A grand jury declined to indict the officers. The family's lawsuit is pending.

Javier Gonzales-Guerrero; San Jose

What happened: San Jose officers found Gonzales-Guerrero sleeping in medical scrubs in a hotel stairwell on Oct. 23, 2011. Police said four officers saw the butt of a gun in his waistband and fired a barrage of bullets when he reached for the weapon. As it turned out, Gonzales-Guerrero - who was grievously wounded but survived - had gotten drunk while dressed as a surgeon at a Halloween party. The gold revolver was a fake.

Outcome: Santa Clara County prosecutors found the shooting lawful after concluding the officers responded to a perceived threat. San Jose paid $4.95 million to settle Gonzales-Guerrero's federal lawsuit.

DeAunta Farrow; West Memphis, Ark.

What happened: On June 22, 2007, while staking out an apartment complex, Officer Erik Sammis shot and killed 12-year-old DeAunta as the boy ran through a darkened lot. Police said the boy ignored commands to drop a toy handgun.

Outcome: A special prosecutor declined to file criminal charges, and a federal civil jury ruled in favor of the officers in a $250 million lawsuit filed by DeAunta's family. Two years after the shooting, Arkansas banned toy guns that look like real firearms.

Nicholas Heyward Jr.; New York City

What happened: The 13-year-old boy was playing cops and robbers with a toy gun in a darkened stairwell of a housing project on Sept. 27, 1994, when he was fatally shot by housing authority Officer Brian George, who had been responding to a report of an armed man.Outcome: The Brooklyn district attorney did not prosecute the officer, blaming the incident on the proliferation of toy guns. The boy's family sued, but it's not clear how the case was resolved. New York City responded by requiring toy guns to be brightly colored.

Silivelio "Tony" Grohse; San Francisco

What happened: Two city officers who had been responding to a report of gunfire shot and killed the severely disabled 13-year-old boy outside a Potrero Hill housing project on Feb. 17, 1988, mistaking the toy gun he had just received for Christmas for a real firearm.

Outcome: The San Francisco district attorney's office cleared the officers, concluding they had a "well-founded fear for their lives" after Silivelio pointed the gun at them and let out a "terrifying shriek." The boy's parents sued for $10 million in federal court, but a judge tossed the case. By the end of the year, the Board of Supervisors banned the sale of real-looking toy guns.

D.C. officer gets 2 years’ probation for assault, excessive force against store worker

 D.C. police officer was sentenced to two years of supervised probation Friday for assaulting a man and using excessive force in January 2011 at a store in Northeast Washington.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin also sentenced Clinton Turner, a patrol officer in the 6th District, to 180 days in jail but suspended that. Morin angrily reprimanded Turner for attacking the man and lying about it in a police report.
Prosecutors said that Turner, who was on patrol at the time, had exchanged words with the store employee, who walked away from the argument. Turner followed him and kept telling him, “Don’t let us get you locked up on your birthday,” prosecutors said.
The victim asked why he would be arrested for being at work doing his job, and the officer warned that if he said something else, he would be arrested, according to prosecutors. The employee sarcastically replied, “Something else,” and Turner slammed him into a display wall. Turner then arrested him for assaulting a police officer.

Officers facing discipline claim disability for big cost to Milwaukee

As the district attorney investigated him for allegedly beating a handcuffed suspect, Milwaukee Police Detective Rodolfo Gomez Jr. applied for duty disability retirement, saying stress had left him unable to do his job, the Journal Sentinel has learned.

If his application is approved, Gomez, 47 — charged last week with felony misconduct in public office — could be paid by the city for the rest of his life.

Under state law, a felony conviction would require Gomez to be fired. But if he were placed on duty disability before that, he would be considered retired instead.

As a result, he would be paid 75% of his $76,000 salary, tax-free, meaning his take-home pay would be about the same. And he even would get raises, just as he would if he went to work every day.

Gomez wouldn't be the first Milwaukee police officer to receive duty disability during or after a disciplinary investigation. At least five others have done so since 2006. Some of the investigations resulted in discipline; some did not. As of July, those five alone had collected $948,000, according to the Employees' Retirement System, which administers the program.

Gomez and other officers accused of misconduct received help with their applications from Bradley DeBraska, according to documents filed with the retirement system. DeBraska is a former Milwaukee officer and police union president who was convicted of a felony for faking a document in the union's high-stakes legal fight with the city over the officers' pension fund.

Duty disability retirement was designed as a safety net to ensure that officers, whose careers are inherently dangerous, would not suffer financial ruin if they were hurt on the job. But in recent years, officers shot by suspects or injured in squad crashes have been joined by officers claiming mental stress as a result of disciplinary matters.

Ald. Michael Murphy, who sits on the city Pension Board, said he has no problem with officers who have legitimate problems applying for duty disability.

"But when you see people file for stress because they are being investigated, including criminally investigated, that has nothing to do with the job, and that process certainly should be changed," he said.

Murphy, also head of the Common Council's Finance and Personnel Committee, requested an outside audit of the duty disability program. The audit, which began last week, will take approximately three months to complete.

Breakdown claimed

Gomez's application for the benefit, filed Oct. 25, says he suffered a mental breakdown as a result of 31/2 years spent investigating the murders of nine children — as well as the death of a pregnant woman whose fetus was cut from her womb, killing them both.

In his application, Gomez said he had a flashback during his interrogation of Deron Love, the father of a dead baby. Gomez is accused of beating Love.

"The stress of dealing with the horrific deaths of helpless children finally caught up with my limits of rationalization and my mental ability to absorb the personal trauma," wrote Gomez, who did not return telephone calls for comment for this story.

In a statement, Milwaukee Police Association president Mike Crivello said officers have a demanding job, both physically and mentally.

"While a physical injury is visible and often easier to determine whether an individual can continue to perform as an officer — psychological trauma injuries are not, but nevertheless as debilitating," he wrote.

Crivello, a detective, said duty disability claims receive "incredible scrutiny" before being approved.

The sworn department members to be granted duty disability during or after disciplinary investigations include Jason Mucha, a former sergeant. Mucha, whose history of misconduct complaints dates to at least 2007, supervised four officers later charged in connection with illegal strip searches. He was not disciplined in any of the cases.

Mucha was granted duty disability late last year after claiming publicity over the complaints left him paranoid, depressed and suicidal. He recently reclaimed nine guns taken from him as part of an emergency mental health detention.

Four more officers who faced internal investigations, including Gomez, are waiting to hear whether their applications have been approved.

Officer in Williams case

One of them is Jason Bleichwehl, who spent time in the front seat of a squad car as Derek Williams struggled to breathe in the back and later died. An inquest jury recommended that Bleichwehl and two other officers be charged with misdemeanors in connection with Williams' death, but no charges were issued. Bleichwehl also was not disciplined by the Police Department.

"No human being should have to endure one false allegation in the public domain, public ridicule from your boss, have elected officials use your life as a scapegoat or have your complete life exposed for public consumption," Bleichwehl wrote in his application for duty disability payments. "... The Chief of Police in Milwaukee did nothing to dispel or contradict the allegations and to the contrary, the Chief made disparaging remarks regarding my conduct. No person was protecting me in the public domain against the complete destruction of my mental and physical health."

Michael Steinle, attorney for Gomez and Bleichwehl, said he could not comment.

"I really don't feel comfortable talking about those situations because I would have to go into attorney-client privilege and I am not authorized to do that," Steinle said. "Plus, you are talking medical conditions that under (medical confidentiality) laws I am not allowed to discuss."

Application process

To apply for duty disability, police officers first must file for worker's compensation.

For officers hired before 2006, two doctors, one picked by the union, one by the city, review the case. If the doctors do not agree, a third breaks the tie. Officers hired since 2006 who claim a stress-related disability are evaluated by a three-doctor panel appointed by the Employees' Retirement System.

After the disability is granted, the case is re-evaluated each year by a three-doctor panel until the person is 57. After that, duty disabilities are converted to traditional pensions, as if the officers had worked full careers.

Duty disability payments are made via the city's $4.8 billion retirement trust. The city and current employees contribute to the trust account, which funds pensions for all retired city employees, not just police and not just those with disabilities. This year, the city's contribution to the fund was $62 million, according to the retirement system. Retirees, including police on duty disability, no longer are required to pay into the fund. Their pensions are funded with investment returns.

Murphy noted that the disability process is governed by the police union's collective bargaining agreement. Other city employees do not work under such an agreement following the passage of Wisconsin's Act 10, which stripped most public employees of most collective bargaining rights.

The act, however, exempted police and fire employees. Murphy said the city will be limited in reforms it can make to the duty disability system unless Act 10 is extended to law enforcement and firefighters.

One of the goals of the audit, being conducted by Segal Consulting for a fee of $45,000, is to determine whether any cost-saving changes can be made through city ordinances, according to the city's request for quotes. Auditors also will look for "changes that could be made to decrease the risk of fraud and abuse of the program," the document says.

Murphy isn't the only one with qualms about the system.

Officials at the Police Department are concerned that officers who are healthy enough to work desk jobs — known as "light duty" or "limited duty" — are instead getting duty disability because the doctors evaluating the officers have been misled by inaccuracies in their applications.

Problem noted

Police Capt. Gary Gacek, head of the Internal Affairs Division, pointed out the potential problem in an Oct. 15 letter to Jerry Allen, executive director of the retirement system.

Several of the applications reference the "always on duty rule," which states: "(Officers) are always subject to orders from proper authority and to calls from citizens. The fact that they may be technically 'off-duty' shall not be held as relieving them from the responsibility of taking required police action in any matter coming to their attention at any time."

The applicants claim department rules do not allow exceptions for officers working limited duty, according to copies of their letters.

Gacek, however, says Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn rescinded the "always on duty" rule in February 2011.

"There is no condition of employment that requires an existing disabled law enforcement employee to take law enforcement action, whether on-duty or off-duty," Gacek wrote. "... The department can also accommodate most law enforcement employees who suffer from an illness, injury or mental affliction with an assignment that takes into consideration the employees' limitation or disability."

The same language referencing the "always on duty" rule shows up in multiple applications witnessed by DeBraska, former president of the Milwaukee Police Association, the union that represents rank-and-file officers. At least six of the applicants who got help from DeBraska claimed stress due to an internal investigation, including Mucha, Bleichwehl and Gomez, who was a member of the police union board until July.

DeBraska, who did not return calls for comment, has been heavily involved in the pension system for years. He was an elected member of the pension board while he headed the police union. He retired from the department in 2005. As of last year, he was working for the Milwaukee Police Supervisors' Organization.

In 2009, a Milwaukee County jury convicted DeBraska of fabricating a memo from a former top city leader that the union then used in a legal fight with the city over pension funds. He was sentenced to six months in jail.

The sentence did not bar DeBraska from working in the pension system, Murphy noted.

"I was amazed that wasn't part of the ruling, that he could have no dealings with the pension," he said. "A known felon who forged an alderman's signature that could have resulted in millions and millions in costs to the taxpayers now is the main consultant in all these mental stress duty disability cases."

Raquel Rutledge of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Deliberations in Indy officer's trial to resume

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A jury has ended its first day of deliberations in the reckless homicide and drunken driving trial of an Indianapolis police officer charged in a fatal crash.

The Fort Wayne jury got the David Bisard case on Monday afternoon and deliberated about three hours before quitting for the evening. It's due to resume Tuesday morning.

Bisard's patrol car crashed into two motorcycles stopped at an Indianapolis traffic light in August 2010, killing a 30-year-old man and seriously injuring two other people.

Allen County Judge John Surbeck dismissed one juror Monday for researching blood-alcohol tests online in violation of Surbeck's instructions.

Two other jurors previously were excused, leaving no alternate jurors remaining. If an additional juror were dismissed, the case would end in a mistrial.

Columbia police officer suspended after being arrested for DUI over the weekend

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — A Columbia police officer has been suspended after he was arrested over the weekend and charged with driving under the influence.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says 30-year-old Steven Joshua White was arrested at around 3:45 a.m. Saturday after deputies saw him driving erratically.
Lott says White was unsteady on his feet. Officers also found several open bottles of alcohol inside the SUV.
Columbia Police Department officials say White has been suspended without pay during the investigation. It wasn't known if he had an attorney.

Cop shoots himself while securing gun

A Brooklyn cop accidentally shot himself in the arm while trying to secure his gun inside his stationhouse Monday morning, police said.

Officer fired after investigation into shooting

MOREHEAD CITY – A Morehead City police officer who is accused of accidentally shooting another officer during training last month has been fired as the result of the internal investigation.

Police Chief Wrenn Johnson confirmed Monday that Marvin Willis III is no longer with the department and referred questions to the town’s human resources department.

Morehead City Manager David Whitlow said Willis was terminated from the police department last week after the department’s internal investigation found that he had been dishonest.

“He was terminated for being untruthful,” Whitlow said.

According to investigators, Willis shot fellow officer Garrett Hardin in the chest Oct. 2 while they were training in the parking lot outside the police department. Hardin was seriously injured and hospitalized at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville for a week before being released to recover at home.

The State Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings. 

Former Little Rock cop gets 104 months for drug escort duty

Little Rock cop Mark Anthony Jones, 46, was sentenced today to 104 months in prison for taking money to serve as an escort to what he believed were shipments of marijuana through the city. He and his brother, also a Little Rock, officer, were under surveillance in a sting operation.

Jones had entered a plea agreement. His brother, Randall Robinson, was convicted earlier on a marijuana charge, but a mistrial was declared on other charges. He'll be retried in the spring. According to the government, they provided escort in marked patrol cars and failed to respond to a shooting report while at the task in March 2012.



NEWS RELEASE

Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District  of Arkansas; Randall C. Coleman, Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock Field Office of the  Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Stuart Thomas, Chief of the Little Rock Police  Department, announced Mark Anthony Jones, age 46 of Little Rock was sentenced by United States District Judge James M. Moody to 104 months in federal prison to be followed by four years  of supervised release. Jones was immediately taken into United States Marshal custody  following the sentencing.

“As I said when Jones was arrested, we owe it to this community and, more importantly, to  the upstanding individuals who wear the badge of the LRPD to hold those who break the law  accountable for their actions,” stated Thyer. “This case was carefully investigated and the facts  speak for themselves. Jones’ choice to sell his career for cash is disheartening. My hope is, this  sentence will serve notice to all other law enforcement officers that disregard of the law will result  in prosecution. No one is above the law. To those who valiantly serve with integrity, I applaud  you and thank you for your service.”

“The sentence imposed today sends a strong message to anyone in law enforcement who  would betray his or her oath to protect and serve the public," stated Acting FBI Special Agent in  Charge Howard S. Marshall. "The vast majority of us who respect the badges we wear and who  are committed to public service will band together to aggressively investigate these egregious,  criminal activities. In many of these investigations, they start with a tip from a concerned  citizen. We are grateful for those who come forward to report corruption to us and we continue  to encourage people to do so.”

Chief Thomas added, “I hope the message is clear that allegations of corruption will be  diligently investigated and prosecuted. The men and women of this Department who participated  in this difficult and demanding investigation demonstrated professionalism, integrity, and  confidentiality to the highest degree. This Department is appreciative our partnership with the   United States Attorney’s Office and the Little Rock Office of the FBI which, without hesitation,  provided the resources and expertise necessary to fully investigate this matter and ultimately bring  it to a successful conclusion today.”

Jones was arrested May 24, 2013 and pled guilty June 28, 2013, to one count of attempting to aid and abet the possession with intent to distribute approximately 1,000 pounds of marijuana.

The facts in the Plea Agreement state that Jones had been a policeman with the Little Rock Police Department since 1988. Early in 2012, Jones traveled with a Confidential Informant (CI) to Los Angeles, California to meet the informant's purported supplier of marijuana. During dinner, the supplier (who was actually an undercover FBI agent) and Jones engaged in recorded conversation about marijuana loads being brought into Little Rock. After returning from  California, the CI contacted Jones regarding a truckload of 1,000 pounds of marijuana coming into  Little Rock. Jones was asked to and agreed to provide security for this load. He recruited his  brother, another LRPD officer to be the 2nd escort to protect against an arrest by other law  enforcement.

On March 22, 2012, Jones and his brother provided the protection while driving marked  patrol cars. The delivery was divided in two vans of a purported quantity of approximately 500  pounds of marijuana in each van. The FBI set-up surveillance of the activities including aerial  surveillance. The facts state that during the time Jones and his brother provided the escort, they  “overheard on their police radio a call for shots fired near their location. They were the officers  closest to the shooting, but did not respond because they were following the vans.” Jones didn’t  respond to the call until he had completed the escort of the vans – approximately one hour later.

Jones was audio and video recorded by the FBI later that day meeting with the CI who paid him $10,000 in cash for the escort - $5,000 for Jones and $5,000 for his brother.

On July 15, 2013, Jones’ brother, Randall Tremayne Robinson, was found guilty of Count  3 of the Superseding Indictment for distribution of marijuana in August of 2009. The jury hung  on all other counts. A second Superseding Indictment was filed August 7, 2013. The trial has  been set for March 17, 2014 before United States District Judge James L. Moody. An indictment  contains only allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This investigation was conducted by the Little Rock Field Office of the Federal Bureau of  Investigation in cooperation with, and with substantial support from, the Little Rock Police  Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Pat Harris and Anne Gardner have prosecuted  this case for the United States.

cop gets 36-month R-I in graft case

A police inspector with N M Joshi Marg police, who was arrested for graft in 2006, was Thursday convicted and sentenced to 36 months of rigorous imprisonment, while a sub-inspector, who was also arrested in the same case, was acquitted. ACB officers said inspector Prashant Pandit and sub-inspector Jagdish Giri were arrested by 2006 after they allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 from an arrested suspect in lieu of his release. Pandit was the investigating officer in the case, police said.

South Barrington cop pleads guilty

A South Barrington police officer has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to forgery, possession of a controlled substance and official misconduct.
Keith Baker, 31, of Bartlett, was sentenced Wednesday to 24 months of intensive probation, which includes random drug tests and a curfew among other requirements, in exchange for his guilty pleas. He was also ordered to pay $1,404 in fines, court records show

Fairfax County Police Watch: cumulative damage.

Fairfax County Police Watch: cumulative damage.: It’s about cumulative damage. It took the Fairfax County Police four days to report to the public, the people who pay them and provid...

cumulative damage.

It’s about cumulative damage.

It took the Fairfax County Police four days to report to the public, the people who pay them and provide them a $300 million a year budget, that the man they shot in killed in a homeless shelter assaulted a cop with a baton. The baton was taken from the cop.  We pay for the cops training on how and when to use the baton. There were two cops at the scene. How and why he got the cops baton is a question for another day.

Another question would be why didn’t one of the two cops use a taser on the man? It takes the same amount of time to reach for, unholster, unlock, point and shoot a taser as it takes to let off the three bullets the cop fired that night.

 It’s a worthy question because we have a police force that shoots both the rich and poor alike and they could damn well kill you or someone you love, so the cops should be questioned about their all too frequent use of force.  

Being the cops doesn’t mean having permission deadly force doesn’t mean you have to do it, a point seemingly lost on the Fairfax County Police.    

If the cops don’t have tasers, why don’t they have them? At $300 million a year, they should be able to buy a taser factory. If they can afford a PR department, they can afford tasers.   

This is what will happen. The Internal Affairs office, AKA Pinocchio Central, will look at the case to determine where the department is exposed, cover that hole, and then announce the cops have investigated the cops and that the cops are innocent of any wrong doing, cowardly behavior, overreacting and/or just generally bad decision making.

If, in secrecy, they determine that the cops in question over reacted, will they secretly fire those cops and you’ll never hear about it? If they do, that isn’t right. It’s our government not theirs. Hell, 8 out of 10 Fairfax County cops don’t even live here. We have a right to know.

 While we’re on the subject, what happened to the cop who gunned down Sal Culosi? How about the cop who shot David master to death over a house plant? Are they still on the force? Have they been fired? The department never released the information.

Departmental critics, which are nation wide at this point (Google the killing of Sal Culosi) have cited the County cop’s love of secrecy but secrecy doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it.  It’s all about arrogance and contempt. And the price for secrecy, arrogance and contempt of the public, by government operatives, is suspicion, doubt and distrust by the public of government.

So what?

Well that’s the part the rank and file cops don’t get. It’s about cumulative damage. In a century of cameras everywhere and the internet, it’s just a matter of time before a Fairfax County cop is recorded shooting someone and goes trial for it. It won’t matter if the cop was right in using deadly force. 

As more and more information about the shoot first think later mentality of the police is made public, it all adds up, the more juriors will have to consider about the cops motive.   

Fairfax County Police kill another unarmed man.

     According to the latest reports, the homeless man gunned down the shoot-happy Fairfax County police was unarmed.  It appears that the cops panicked, but that isn’t really what happened.  According to witnesses, when the man attacked the police, one of the cops pulled out his service revolver and fired three shots at the man killing him.

     Here’s what they could have done instead;

     There were two cops and one man, with more cops on the way. They could have tried to psychically restraint him. We paid for their training in psychically restraining a person. They know how to do.

     They could have used clubs on him. We gave them the right to do it and no one would have blamed them if they did.

     They could have tased him. We trained them to use the taser. We gave them the right to do it and no one would have blamed them if they did.

     But they shot him dead.

     At first glance, a scared cop looks to be fault in this killing. But that isn’t it. What killed that man is the culture of contempt that rules over the Fairfax County Police Department and in a few months, it will kill others as well. The cop who pulled the trigger along with every cop on the Fairfax County Police force and every citizen in Fairfax County knows that nothing will come of this.

    Watch and see. Just like the killing of the unarmed John Geer in Springfield earlier this year, nothing will become of this killing either.

   Watch and see. This is as far as this story is going to go. In the end, once again, the Fairfax County cops will investigate the Fairfax County cops and find the Fairfax County harmless in the incident.

Why even bother reporting this?

Fairfax County officer fatally shoots man during fight at homeless shelter.

The gun happy Fairfax County police shot and killed another citizen. Just like the killing of the unarmed John Geer in Springfield earlier this year, nothing will become of this.  

This is as far as this story is going to go. In the end, once again, the Fairfax County cops will investigate the Fairfax County cops and find the Fairfax County harmless in the incident.

The news says that the department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau and an Internal Affairs unit are investigating the incident….so what?   The results will never be made public even though the public has paid the cops ($300 million) for those results. 

 Just like the killing of John Geer in Springfield earlier this year, nothing is will become of this.  This is as far as this story is going to go. In the end, once again, the Fairfax County cops will investigate the Fairfax County cops and find the Fairfax County harmless in the incident

The Fairfax County cops bank on the fact that the electronic media probably won’t report the story and if they do it will get, perhaps, 15 seconds of air time, and, since TV news doesn’t do follow stories, the cops are safe on that front. 

The print media, which has done an excellent job holding the Fairfax County Police accountable for their butchering, could be a problem for the cops on this, so Internal Affairs, whose primary job is not to establish the truth but to protect the department from bad publicity, will stall the issue for a few years and eventually even the print media will forget about it.  

Just like the killing of John Geer in Springfield earlier this year, nothing is will become of this.  This is as far as this story is going to go. In the end, once again, the Fairfax County cops will investigate the Fairfax County cops and find the Fairfax County harmless in the incident

The County’s elected officials cower at the thought of confronting the cops and won’t dare raise the issue, besides; the guy they killed this time was homeless and probably mentally ill, so he was of no value to elected officials. Think we’re wrong about that?  Watch and see because not one of them will raise a squeek over this.

In the end, once again, the Fairfax County cops will investigate the Fairfax County cops and find the Fairfax County harmless in the incident. But that’s an old story and not really relevant. 

The real story isn’t in the cop’s willingness to gun people down. The real story is in the departmental culture of contempt that tells the cops its okay to shoot first and think later. 

Todays sexual assault charges against your police: police officer on trial in sexual assault case

Todays sexual assault charges against your police: police officer on trial in sexual assault case: FORT WORTH — Lawyers for a police officer accused of sexually assaulting a woman told the jury that the woman is pursuing a lawsuit st...

Another drunk cop

SOMERSET, Ky. (WKYT) - Pulling people over is a part of Sergeant Jason Griffith's job as an officer for the Somerset Police Department, but having the lights behind him is another story.
"Well, the case is fresh and we don't have all of the facts in front of us just yet," said Attorney Scott Foster, representing Sgt. Griffith.
According to the arrest citation, which we acquired courtesy of the Commonwealth Journal, Sgt. Griffith was arrested by a Department of Fish and Wildlife officer Sunday night on suspicion of driving under the influence.
"It obviously bothers him and upsets him that he's taken away from his career over this," answered Foster on Griffith's behalf.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife says Officer Lucas Tucker was on his way home when he noticed a truck driving all over Highway 80 in Pulaski County. Tucker attempted to stop the truck, but the Department of Fish and Wildlife says the truck ignored Officer Tucker. The truck finally stopped at the Somerset city limit. The arrest citation says Griffith was "crossing all lanes, going into the grass and shoulder on both sides of the road.". The report said Tucker could smell an odor of alcoholic beverage and that Sgt. Griffith was reportedly swaying outside his truck. The report said Griffith refused his field sobriety test and breath test.
Foster has a lot of questions about the validity of the arrest. "I've got to do some research on the topic, but there are some questions about the authority of a fish and wildlife officer to enforce the criminal laws in the State of Kentucky."
The Department of Fish and Wildlife say they have jurisdiction statewide and explain that they can act in "life threatening situations." The Department of Fish and Wildlife said Officer Tucker called the Somerset Police in to assist, and once on scene they identified the driver as Sgt. Griffith. A spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife said the Somerset Police requested that Officer Tucker complete his arrest report.
"There's some statutory language that tends to indicate they may not," added Foster.
At this time, Foster explained that Sgt. Griffith is on paid administrative leave, per department policy, and he said the 20-year vet has an otherwise sterling career.
"There's been no prior issues with him, no prior arrests or criminal complaints, or no other issues of that nature," said Foster.
However there's another twist, Foster said he is investigating a claim of a prior incident between Sgt. Griffith and the arresting officer.
"There is an indication that in the past Mr. Griffith stopped this gentleman and cited him," adding, "I don't know if there's an animus between the two."
While there is still more to sort out, Foster said the sergeant will have his day in court on November 18th, Foster said his client will enter a "not guilty" plea.

Brown may review policy after NYPD Kelly silenced

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Brown University may have to consider changing its policies on public lectures after New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was shouted down by community members and students as he tried to give a speech about his department's stop-and-frisk policy, a spokeswoman for the Ivy League school said Wednesday.
Spokeswoman Marisa Quinn said it is valuable to have such events open to the public, but they need to be conducted as a free exchange of ideas. Both Brown students and members of the general public disrupted the event, she said.
Brown President Christina Paxson said in a letter to Brown students, faculty and staff that she planned to contact Kelly to "convey my deepest regret for the manner in which he was treated." Quinn said Wednesday the two have spoken.
Paxson also called a meeting of the Brown community Wednesday evening.
Kelly declined to comment Tuesday and again Wednesday through spokesmen for the New York Police Department.
The NYPD contends stop and frisk has made the city safer. But a federal judge recently ruled the practice of stopping individuals who the police think look suspicious violated the civil rights of minorities. The city is appealing.
Kelly had just begun to speak Tuesday when protesters began shouting and would not let him continue. The disruption went on for about 30 minutes before university officials put an end to the event and cleared the room.

Students opposed to Kelly's visit first petitioned the university to cancel the lecture, said Jenny Li, a Brown student who helped organize the protest. When the university did not cancel the event, "we decided to cancel it for them," Li said. She called the protest "a powerful demonstration of free speech."
Brown's public lectures are typically free and open to the larger community, and protests have disrupted talks there before. A few years ago, a man who did not attend Brown threw something at then-Rep. Patrick Kennedy during a talk. In another instance, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman had a cream pie thrown in his face by two people, at least one of whom was a student. In both those instances, the talks continued.
Ross Cheit, a Brown professor and member of the faculty at its Taubman Center for Public Policy, which hosted the lecture, said that while Kelly expected some protests, he appeared to be taken by surprise that he wasn't allowed to speak.
Also, contrary to what some demonstrators claimed Tuesday, Kelly was not paid for his appearance and was never going to get an honorarium, Cheit said.
Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare, who attended the Tuesday event, said Wednesday he wanted to hear Kelly speak and was disappointed he didn't get to hear him answer questions about the NYPD practice.
"When you shut people down, whether you're pro or con, we all lose as a community," Pare said.
Pare said his own department had discussed practicing stop and frisk after a rash of shootings, but eventually rejected the idea.
"From some readings and some perspectives, it has been successful at reducing crime, but at what cost?" he said.
The Associated Press on Wednesday attempted to contact several people involved in the protest, but they either did not return messages or they declined to comment.

Lawsuit accuses Roxbury police of making false arrest after ignoring part of phone message

 A Pennsylvania man is suing the Roxbury Police Department and two of its officers, claiming he was falsely arrested after they deliberately ignored part of a recorded telephone message.
Joe Paszkowski, 65, of Columbus, Pa., was charged with threatening to kill by means of hanging, but the charge was dropped after a Morris County grand jury returned a “no bill” and refused to indict him, according to court records.
The suit says that in the recorded message in April that resulted in his arrest, Paszkowski told a person in Roxbury, “I’m going to hang both of you … so bad. I’m coming up to New Jersey … I’m going to … have a prosecutor look into the case for what you did.”
But in his reports, Officer John Sylvester included only the first part of the message, and “deliberately and maliciously” left out the second part mentioning the prosecutor, said Paszkowski’s attorney, Joel Rachmiel.
Those words “clearly negate any threat to kill another by hanging,” Rachmiel said.
Paszkowski says he was arrested and held at a jail in Pennsylvania, where the “stress and anxiety” caused by the “baseless charge” made him suffer breathing problems, which necessitated his hospitalization.

Cops and the women they abuse: officer charged with domestic battery

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Durant officer charged with DUI appears in court

DURANT, OK -- A Durant Police officer charged with driving under the influence of alcohol pleaded not guilty Wednesday.
OHP says 36-year-old Brandon Carbaugh crashed his pickup truck on State Highway 91 earlier this month.
Troopers say he was arrested and taken to MCSO, but was not booked into jail because he was injured.
Durant Police say he is on administrative leave.
Carbaugh is set to appear in court for a disposition December 12th.

Armstrong County police officer charged with having guns on college campus

Police at a Massachusetts college campus last week filed a criminal complaint against a law school student who is also a part-time Armstrong County police officer after guns were discovered in the on-campus apartment where he was staying.
William DeForte, 42, of Clinton will be notified by summons by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Department of Public Safety to appear for arraignment on charges of carrying a firearm without a university license and storing his handguns and ammunition improperly.
It is illegal in Massachusetts for anyone to bring a gun onto a college campus, even if they are a police officer, without dispensation from the public safety chief, according to John Hoey, assistant chancellor of public affairs.

Michael Hart, Skokie Police Officer, Charged With Battery In Alleged Brutality Caught On Video

A Skokie, Ill. police officer has been charged with felony aggravated battery and official misconduct after he was captured pushing a female arrestee into a jail cell, resulting in the woman sustaining multiple serious facial injuries.

According to Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, officer Michael Hart, 43, of Gurnee, Ill., "became irate" after helping with the fingerprinting and photographing of 47-year-old Cassandra Fuerstein and shoved the 110-pound Chicago woman into a concrete bench during her March 10 arrest on DUI charges, ABC Chicago reports.

Fuerstein had been disregarding Hart's commands, prosecutors say.
The attack shattered several bones in Fuerstein's face and the woman required reconstructive surgery including a titanium plate in her cheek, according to NBC Chicago. She also has had vision and dental problems since the shoving.

Video of the shoving was released earlier this month by Feuerstein's attorney, Torreya Hamilton, after Feuerstein filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officer. The video prompted an outcry and over 1,000 people signed a Change.org petition calling for Hart's arrest.

Hart was ordered held on $75,000 bond and faces up to five years in prison if convicted. Hart's attorney, Jed Stone, told the Chicago Tribune his client "cannot believe after 19 years of serving Skokie that his career has come to an arrest. … I don't think pushing her into a cell is a crime."

As a result of the charges, Skokie officials have put Hart on administrative leave while they complete an internal investigation that could lead to disciplinary action, Patch reports.

Hart filed a complaint against Feuerstein after the incident for resisting a peace officer. Those charges were later dismissed after Cook County prosecutors reviewed the evidence. Feuerstein pleaded guilty to drunk driving.

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Lexington Police Officer Charged With Harassment P...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Lexington Police Officer Charged With Harassment P...:  Scott County family says Officer Keith Spears verbally confronted their 13-year-old son, who was refereeing a youth soccer match, and grabb...

Macedon Police officer Edward O'Konsky suspended

Canandaigua, N.Y.

A Macedon police officer has been suspended without pay after allegedly stealing money from the bargaining unit representing the town’s police officers and removing and using a piece of evidence from the department.

Macedon Police said Edward O'Konsky, 38, of Farmington, alleged stole nearly $2,200 from the Macedon Association of Police Officers over the course of a year.

O'Konsky is charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, first-degree falsifying business records, official misconduct, two counts of tampering with physical evidence and petit larceny. He was arraigned on the charges and is due back in court next month.

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: It isn't the job, its the type people they hire fo...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: It isn't the job, its the type people they hire fo...:  According to the The Badge of Life website, www.badgeoflife.com “More cops commit suicide than are killed by felons.   In 2011, there w...

Hartford Police Sergeant Under Review For Accidentally Firing Gun Into Neighbor's House While Off-Duty

WINDSOR— An off-duty Hartford police sergeant who accidentally fired his gun through the wall of his home and into the bedroom of a 12-year-old girl in the neighboring house is not facing criminal charges.
The neighbors of Sgt. Eric Smith's neighbors were satisfied with an apology, according to Capt. Tom LePore of the Windsor Police Department.
"There was no desire on the part of the victim to have an arrest made," LePore said. "As a matter of fact they said they did not want their neighbor to be arrested for that."
According to an incident report from Windsor, a resident of Village Lane called police on Sept. 25 after his daughter found a bullet in her bed. The daughter told police that three days earlier she had discovered a hole in her bedroom wall just underneath the window.
Police examined the bullet hole and determined the shot came from a southerly direction. An officer then went to Smith's residence, which is just south of the caller's house.
Smith told Windsor police that on the evening of Sept. 24, he was in his bedroom unloading his off-duty handgun when he accidentally fired one shot, the incident report states. Smith said he checked the hole in his bedroom wall with a screwdriver and thought the bullet had stayed inside the wall. He also said he checked outside for evidence that the bullet had exited the wall and found none, according to the report.
Windsor police spoke with a sergeant from Hartford police Internal Affairs division, who stated that the "situation would be addressed internally," the report states.
The case was closed by Windsor police, though the report gives no explanation of the discrepancy between when Smith reported the accidental shot and when the girl reported finding the bullet hole. The report does not indicate whether anyone was inside the neighbor's home at the time of the shot.
LePore said that although Smith could have been charged with reckless endangerment or unlawful discharge of a weapon, he did not receive special treatment.
An internal affairs investigation into the matter is almost complete, but disciplinary action against Smith has not been determined, said Lt. Brian Foley, head of the Hartford police Major Crimes division. The investigation is currently in the "command review stage," Foley said.
Although no criminal charges were filed, LePore said this sort of incident should have been reported immediately.
"I can't actually understand why he didn't report it to his agency, number one, or how he didn't see that it penetrated his house," LePore said. "I mean those are all very good questions."

Officer accidentally fires gun in Westminster police locker room

A Westminster police officer accidentally shot a mirror last month while dressing for his shift in a locker room at the police station. No one was injured and the department is conducting an internal administrative review of the incident, according to Chief Jeff Spaulding.

On Sept. 15, Officer Elias Cuadro, a two-year member of the department, was changing from his civilian clothes into his uniform when the gun discharged as he went to holster the pistol, according to Spaulding.

“It is apparent that he inadvertently placed his finger on the trigger while holstering the weapon, causing the gun to discharge,” Spaulding said.

The mirror was damaged and had to be replaced, costing $386, according to Spaulding.

Cuadro has not been placed on leave and will keep his police powers while the investigation takes place, Spaulding said.This is the second time a firearm was accidentally discharged in approximately the last 10 years, according to Spaulding. The other incident occurred in October 2010.