Never mind how many cops are killed each year...tell us how many people cops kill each year

Ex-Chicago cop sentenced to life in prison for grisly murder plot

Georgia deputy off duty as police investigate girlfriend’s bizarre shooting death while in bed together

Cop Previously Charged With Stalking Shoots and Kills Ex-Girlfriend

Ex-Chicago cop sentenced to life in prison for grisly murder plot

By Jason Meisner Chicago Tribunecontact the reporter

Ex-Chicago cop who planned to extort businessman, then kill him, chop up his body gets life plus five years.

Ex-Chicago cop Steven Mandell gets life plus five years in prison.

Steven Mandell delivers bizarre remarks, including cheerfully wishing the judge a merry Christmas

After decades of drama in Chicago, including a murder conviction, death sentence, shocking exoneration and landmark lawsuit against the FBI, all Steven Mandell says he wanted to do was quietly live out his golden years in Florida.

"I was happily retired, living with my lovely wife in a golf course community in Naples," Mandell, 64, said Thursday as he delivered bizarre remarks at his sentencing in a packed federal courtroom. "It was the perfect life."

Instead,he came out of retirement in 2012 and returned to Chicago, where he was soon arrested in a grisly plot to kidnap, murder and dismember a suburban businessman. Mandell said he was once again framed by an untrustworthy informant, continuing his "long FBI nightmare."

But U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve was unmoved by the melodrama. Moments after the former Chicago cop wrapped up more than 30 minutes of mostly rambling remarks — including cheerfully wishing the judge a merry Christmas — St. Eve sentenced him to life in prison for kidnapping and extortion conspiracy and added a mandatory five-year sentence for a gun conviction.

It was an emphatic end for Mandell, a reputed underworld figure whom law enforcement has long considered a dangerous killer and elusive target.8

Years ago Mandell — who then went by the name Steven Manning — was sent to death row for the drug-related 1990 slaying of a trucking firm owner. After his murder conviction was overturned on appeal, he won a landmark $6.5 million verdict in a lawsuit against the FBI. A judge, however, later threw out the verdict, and Mandell never collected a penny.

Mandell moved to Florida after the ruling and vanished from the public eye. Several years later, he came back to Chicago under his new name and soon was meeting with reputed mobsters at La Scarola restaurant on Grand Avenue, according to court records.

Engel haned himself in his jail cell shortly after he and Mandell were arrested, authorities said.In the videos played at Mandell's February trial, he laughed when he described how victims often come unglued before their deaths. He mimed a blindfolded prisoner, then drew a hand across his throat to signify a killing. He seemed to have mirth in his eyes as he made moaning sounds describing the carnage he could inflict.

"Uhhhh please ... aaaaaaahhhh! It's pitiful," Mandell said in one recording.

Mandell's attorney, Francis Lipuma, sought as few as 12 years in prison, saying Mandell should get credit for the two decades he spent behind bars for a murder he didn't commit. Lipuma noted that no one was actually harmed in the kidnapping plot and said if Mandell were released in his 80s, he'd be at a point in his life "when criminal activity would have concluded."

But in asking for a life sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu painted Mandell as a sadistic narcissist who "actually takes pleasure from hurting people."

"He likes it. It arouses him!" said Bhachu, pointing to the defense table at Mandell, who took a sip of water from a Styrofoam cup.

In her ruling, St. Eve said Mandell's actions showed a "complete disregard for human life."

"The pure delight that you showed in those videos … it came through loud and clear," St. Eve said. "The glee in your face was very apparent. It was, quite frankly, chilling."

St. Eve said a life sentence was necessary to keep Mandell from returning to a life of violence and crime.

When FBI agents raided Mandell's Buffalo Grove home after his arrest, they found more than $16,000 in cash in two separate stashes as well as thousands of dollars more in a safe-deposit box at a nearby bank, recent court filings show. Mandell has asked for the money to be returned to his 83-year-old wife, but prosecutors have objected in sealed filings.

  

Georgia deputy off duty as police investigate girlfriend’s bizarre shooting death while in bed together

Walton County Deputy Dwight Buchanan, 21, reportedly loaded a pistol and handed it to his girlfriend, 20-year-old Nikki Guined, early Dec. 10 after a night of drinking and a fight. But the two had reconciled and were in bed at the Monroe home, getting 'intimate,' when the shooting happened, according to police documents.

BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN

A Georgia deputy is on paid leave as police investigate the bizarre shooting death of the man’s girlfriend “while they were intimate” in bed following a fight.

Police say 20-year-old Nikki Guined shot herself in the head early Dec. 10 following a night of drinking and a fight with boyfriend Dwight Buchanan, a 21-year-old Walton County sheriff’s deputy, according to WSB-TV.

She even said she would be “leaving him” later that morning, but the couple made up and headed to bed at the Monroe, Ga., home along Brentwood Boulevard, according to a report obtained by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

As the couple was “intimate,” according to the report, “Nikki asked Dwight for his pistol. “Dwight was reluctant to do so, but gave Nikki his unloaded pistol,” the document reads. “Nikki repeatedly asked Dwight, 'Don't you trust me?' She then asked him to load the pistol. Dwight took the pistol from Nikki, loaded it with a magazine and chambered a round. He then removed the magazine and gave it back to Nikki. She then placed the muzzle of the gun under her right jaw and pulled the trigger."

Three other people at the home heard the gunshot but did not hear the argument, according to the report.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate the strange death and Buchanan is off the job during the inquiry.

He was hired 13 months ago and worked at the Walton County jail.

"I wanted to be as transparent as possible so that there are no questions,” Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman told WSB. "We don't want to appear that we're hiding anything.”

The 9-mm. Glock pistol was apparently a gift for Guined, Chapman told the Journal Constitution.

The house was reportedly strewn with beer cans and the report says Guined was drinking, but doesn’t mention if Buchanan had consumed alcohol.

An Instagram photo of the smiling couple was posted on Dec. 10, the morning Guined died, with the caption, “Even when he’s drunk he’s the cutest guy I’ve ever met. #lovehimsomuch.”

Cop Previously Charged With Stalking Shoots and Kills Ex-Girlfriend

Rebecca Rose

A Philadelphia area cop with a history of stalking was arrested for shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend on Monday.

According to police, Colwyn Borough police officer Stephen Rozniakowski, 32, shot and killed his former girlfriend Valerie Morrow on Monday night at her home in Delaware County. During the attack the victim's husband Tom Morrow, himself a police officer, was also wounded. Police said Rozniakowski also shot and injured Morrow's teenage daughter. Via 6ABC:

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whalen explains, "Tom Morrow, at this point hearing the commotion, hearing the gunfire, reached into his nightstand next to the bed, pulled out a revolver and started returning fire."

When he ran out of bullets Morrow jumped out of a second floor window, breaking his ankle.

Tom Morrow and his teenage stepdaughter were released from an area hospital after being treated for their injuries. According to 6ABC, the motivation behind the shooting is believed to be jealousy—Valerie Morrow and Rozniakowski were previously romantically involved.

The Morrows reportedly believed Rozniakowski was responsible for scratching their new car last week, leading Valerie Morrow file for a protective order against him on Monday. The order was delivered to Rozniakowki's home, where he lives with his mother, on Monday evening at 6 p.m., reports 6ABC. After receiving the restraining order Rozniakowski reportedly called and resigned as a police officer and then went to the Morrow residence to confront his ex. Via the Delaware County Times:

Authorities said Rozniakowski, who telephoned Colwyn Police Chief Bryan Hills Monday to resign from his part time police position, was served a PFA at his residence in Norwood at about 6 p.m.

It was shortly after 9 p.m. when shots rang out in the Glenfield Avenue home, killing an unidentified woman [now identified as Valerie Morrow] and wounding a teenage girl.

Just when you thought this story couldn't get any worse, it turns out local news reports exposed Rozniakowski's stalking history more than nine months before the shooting at the Morrow home, yet local police continued to keep him on their payroll because officials believed his alleged criminal behavior was harmless.

According to NBC 10, Rozniakowski was a bona fide scary-ass stalker, who was already facing dozens of harassment and stalking related charges:

NBC10 Investigator Harry Hairston put a spotlight on Rozniakowski earlier this year when the officer was placed on "administrative leave" after his former fiancee filed a protection from abuse order against him. Plymouth Township Police arrested Rozniakowski and charged him with 25 counts of stalking and 50 counts of harassment for allegedly contacting his former fiancee by phone and text repeatedly.

The Delaware County Daily Times reports Rozniakowski was on $100,000 bail in the wake of those stalking charges:

Rozniakowski is facing trial in Montgomery County, where he is accused of harassing and stalking another woman, a former fiancee'. He is currently free on $100,000 unsecured bail in that case — which includes 75 counts of stalking to cause fear, repeated harassment in an anonymous manner and harassment in a course of conduct with no legitimate purpose.

Rozniakowski's lawyer offered a half-assed apology of sorts for his clients terrifying stalking behavior back in April. "As a police officer, he knows the bounds and what the boundaries are and what the laws are," said Marty Mullaney, an attorney for Rozniakowski. "I think his emotions got the best of him."

NBC10 reported in April that Rozniakowski was placed on paid administrative leave and given office duty. According to NBC10's original report on Rozniakowski in April, Colwyn Borough Police Chief Bryan Hills said he believed what Rozniakowski had done was harmless and opted to let him remain on the job, receiving pay for office duty. Rozniakowski was charged with 75 counts of harassing/stalking, yet his police officer crony boss thought it was "harmless."

Chief Hills isn't the only Colwyn Borough official with an utterly bullshit response to Rozniakowski's abusive history. Emphasis mine:

Colwyn Borough Manager Paula Brown told ABC6, "He was taken out of uniform and off the street back in March of 2014 when the other issue surfaced. And he is not a Colwyn police officer anymore, he resigned yesterday, and everything was taken care of yesterday prior to the incident."

"Everything was taken care of yesterday." Jesus, this attempt to cover their tracks in the wake of a hideous failure could not be anymore insulting. Kudos to you for allowing a stalker to remain on your payroll and then conveniently resign moments before he killed a woman. What color would you like the balloons in your ticker tape parade? Look, you can grasp at all the straws you want, but I doubt they are going to be enough to cover all of the asses of everyone who spectacularly failed to keep a killer from seeking revenge on his stalking victim.

The Delaware County Times notes Rozniakowski's police-issued firearm was taken away after the protective order was filed and is reportedly not the weapon used in the shooting death of Morrow. Whalen is reportedly contemplating seeking the death penalty against Rozniakowski, who faces murder charges. Meanwhile, Rozniakowski remains in critical but stable condition at Crozer Chester Medical Center, under police guard.

The real crime problem: Drunk and drugged up cops

Sierra Vista PD officer involved in on-duty crash while drunk

Hillsborough Police Officer Charged With DWI, Found Drunk And Asleep At The Wheel

Officer caught stumbling on camera, charged with DUI

Richmond officer found with marijuana in home likely won't face charges, officials say

Alcohol, prior drug use gets Utah police officer suspended

Sierra Vista cop causes accident, fired for intoxication

David Branov sentenced: Drug-addicted cop jailed for at least two-and-a-half years

Former Bronx cop sentenced on drug, other charges

Sierra Vista PD officer involved in on-duty crash while drunk

Scott Oathout

SIERRA VISTA- A Sierra Vista Police officer was fired Friday morning, after he was involved in a three vehicle crash while under the influence of alcohol.

According to City of Sierra Vista spokeswoman Judy Hector, Officer Joseph Arnason was driving his patrol vehicle while on-duty around 6:56 a.m., when he rear-ended a vehicle on State Route 92 near Buffalo Soldier Trail.

Nobody was injured in the crash, but all three vehicles were damaged.

Following the crash, Officer Arnason was required to submit to a drug and alcohol testing and found to be intoxicated.

"The City of Sierra Vista has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to drug and alcohol use on the job, regardless of the position," said Chuck Potucek, city manager. "As soon as I had confirmation that the officer was under the influence, I did not hesitate to do what is right and dismiss the officer."

Officer Arnason was a 2-year veteran with SVPD.

"The public has a right to expect that the police officers responsible for helping keep the community safe are themselves upholding the highest professional and ethical standards," said Tom Alinen, Chief of Police. "I am shocked and deeply saddened that we have an officer who failed to meet these standards. This is a first in my 37 years with the City of Sierra Vista. But our residents can be assured that we will take whatever steps are necessary to maintain the confidence our community has that the Police Department puts the public's safety first."

The Arizona Department of Public Safety has taken over the investigation of the crash.

Hillsborough Police Officer Charged With DWI, Found Drunk And Asleep At The Wheel

Somerville police arrested and charged a Hillsborough police officer with driving while intoxicated last month.

By Carly Kilroy (Patch Staff)December 16, 2014 at 11:28am

Somerville police arrested and charged a Hillsborough police officer with driving while intoxicated after they found him asleep behind the wheel in the middle of a lane at the intersection of East Main and North Bridge streets last month. Officer Richard J. Yock was found asleep in his 2005 silver GMC Envoy around 1 a.m. on Nov. 20, according to nj.com.

Officer caught stumbling on camera, charged with DUI

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida police officer was arrested for DUI after being caught on camera veering through traffic and hitting an 18-wheeler, and a witness said he never should have been on the road in the first place.

On Monday around 4 p.m., a concerned citizen noticed a dangerous driver and began following the vehicle, only to find out the driver was a police officer in uniform with a gun on his waist.

The witness, who chose to remain anonymous, said it was obvious that the officer was under the influence. "He was obviously intoxicated," he said.

The man said he spotted the officer in a silver Nissan driving erratically. "He was veering in and off lanes; he was obviously driving under the influence," he said.

The witness then dialed 911, followed the officer until he crashed his vehicle on Southwest 137th Avenue after, the man said, the officer side-swiped an 18-wheeler.

As the driver and officer pulled over, the witness pulled out his cell phone and began recording the encounter. "Then we he got out of the car. I saw the gun on the right side, the Taser gun on the left side," he said.

Hialeah Gardens Police confirmed that 51-year-old Angel Gonzalez was the officer behind the wheel. "He's under the influence, he's carrying a gun, he has the badge, I wouldn't want to be the truck driver in that spot," the witness said.

Miami-Dade Police worked the crash and stated in their report, "It was noted that the defendant had an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath, his eyes were glassy, his gait was unsteady, and his speech was thick-tongued."

When asked if he had been drinking, the report stated, "the defendant denied drinking but stated that he took Xanax."

According to the report, Gonzalez failed a field sobriety test and refused a breathalyzer. He was subsequently charged with DUI. "If this incident helps the police officer realize that he has a problem, then I think that I did well for him," said the witness.

Hialeah Gardens Police had no comment on the matter but did say that Gonzalez has since been suspended from the force.

Richmond officer found with marijuana in home likely won't face charges, officials say

By Rick Hurd rhurd

RICHMOND -- A Richmond police officer found with marijuana in his home earlier this year likely won't be charged with a crime, authorities said, but his future on the police force is undetermined. Veteran K-9 officer Joe Avila has been on paid administrative leave since September, pending an internal investigation, officials in the Richmond Police Department said.  The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office has been investigating since the case came to its attention earlier this year but is not inclined to file charges, said Robin Lipetzky, the county's chief public defender. According to Lipetzky, the decision likely stems from evidence not strong enough to produce a conviction ALTHOUGH THE DOPE WAS FOUND IN HIS HOUSE. 

Alcohol, prior drug use gets Utah police officer suspended

By NATE CARLISLE  

 Before he was a police cadet, Brandon Done suffered a back injury and took a co-worker’s medication to help him cope with the pain.

Done should have reported the illegal prescription use on his application to Weber State University’s police academy, but he didn’t. Done later admitted the prescription use in an employment application. The previous omission was reported to the Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, which regulates police.

Done went before the council earlier this month and asked for a more lenient penalty than the two-year suspension proposed.

"I want to get a job in law enforcement," Done told the council, according to an audio recording of its Dec. 8 meeting. "It is a career path I have always wanted to do."

 But the council suspended Done’s police certification for two years. The council also suspended eight other current and former peace officers.

The council gave a two-year suspension to another peace officer, Shawnn Hartley, who failed to disclose marijuana use. Hartley admitted after graduating from the academy that he had used marijuana, according to information presented to the council. Hartley was unemployed when he made the admission.

The council also suspended two Cedar City police officers. Charles Crosby admitted to having sex with a woman while he was on duty and in uniform, according to information provided to the council. He was suspended for three years.

The other Cedar City officer, Jed P. Imlay, was suspended for four years. According to information provided to the council earlier this year Imlay drove his patrol car to a baseball park with his son in the car and hit a retaining wall. Imlay then left the ballpark. The police department investigated, determined Imlay was drunk and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. He was sentenced to probation and two days in jail.

Another former police officer, Troy Anderson, was suspended for 2 1/2 years for driving under the influence. It was Anderson’s second offense. A judge in Box Elder County Justice Court sentenced Anderson to two days in jail.

Other officers suspended at the Dec. 8 meeting:

• Logan: Jacob Boehme, six-month suspension for disorderly conduct and misuse of a police database.

• Tooele: Talisa Black, two-year suspension for assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child.

• Sandy: Jared Hughes, 18-month suspension for driving under the influence.

• Utah Department of Corrections: Mark D. Puett, six-month suspension for criminal mischief.

Sierra Vista cop causes accident, fired for intoxication

SIERRA VISTA— A Sierra Vista police officer has been fired after causing a traffic accident this morning while operating his patrol vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Officer Joseph Arnason had checked on duty and was on his way to the shift briefing at 6:56 a.m. when he rear-ended a vehicle on Highway 92, near Buffalo Soldier Trail, totaling the patrol vehicle and causing a chain reaction that damaged two other vehicles, according to a press release from the city. There were no injuries reported on scene. In accordance with city policy, the officer was required to submit for drug and alcohol testing and was found to be intoxicated.  “The city of Sierra Vista has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to drug and alcohol use on the job, regardless of the position,” Sierra Vista City Manager Chuck Potucek said. “As soon as I had confirmation that the officer was under the influence, I did not hesitate to do what is right and dismiss the officer.”

The Arizona Department of Public Safety was immediately called in to conduct an independent criminal investigation, which is currently ongoing, the release states.

“The public has a right to expect that the police officers responsible for helping keep the community safe are themselves upholding the highest professional and ethical standards,” Police Chief Tom Alinen said. “I am shocked and deeply saddened that we have an officer who failed to meet these standards. This is a first in my 37 years with the city of Sierra Vista. But our residents can be assured that we will take whatever steps are necessary to maintain the confidence our community has that the police department puts the public’s safety first.”

Officer Arnason was a two-year veteran with the department.

 David Branov sentenced: Drug-addicted cop jailed for at least two-and-a-half years

Wayne Flower

A DIRTY cop who protected criminals and sold them confidential information to feed a raging drug habit will spend at least 2½ years behind bars.

David Branov, 42, said trauma he experienced on the job led him to turn to ice, and when it became a daily habit he turned to crime to pay for it.

But a County Court judge said Branov’s problems offered no excuse for his crimes and did little to reduce his moral culpability.

Branov pleaded guilty to 15 charges, including two counts of misconduct in public office, three counts of theft, including of thousands of dollars of worth of methylamphetamine from Fitzroy police station, attempting to pervert justice, and weapons and drugs charges.

In sentencing Branov to four years, three months and 28 days in jail, Judge Gavan Meredith condemned the former senior constable for his gross breach of trust.

“Your role was to enforce the law, not exploit it,” he said.

Judge Meredith said Branov must be punished for undermining confidence in police.

The court heard Branov was among at least three officers accused of taking bribes to turn a blind eye to drug crimes.

The court heard that an associate paid the trio $3000, which they split, to let him go after they arrested him on drug charges.

Branov, an officer of seven years’ standing, sold personal details, including driver’s licence details and criminal records intelligence, and teamed up with a drug dealer mate to help run a large-scale drug operation in 2009.

He was paid to tip off people under surveillance and throw investigations off course.

Branov also hacked high-level police databases to provide associates with details about his drug associates and drug clients.

During his plea hearing, his lawyer, Stewart Bayles, told the court Branov started using ice to help him get through tough days on the beat.

He said that as a police officer Branov suffered because of exposure to a number of events and experiences that had had a traumatic effect on him.

But Judge Meredith said his issues offer no excuse.

“Your motive does little to reduce your moral culpability,” he said.

  

Former Bronx cop sentenced on drug, other charges

NEW YORK. (WABC) --

A former police officer in the Bronx was sentenced Wednesday on drug related and other charges.

Jose Ramos was sentenced to a minimum 12 and a half years and a maximum of 14 and a half years in prison.

He was convicted on grand larceny, robbery and drug possession charges.

The New York City Police Department former officer was the original target of an undercover probe that began in 2008, stemming from a tip about drug dealing and other illegal activities at Ramos' family-owned barbershop in the Bronx.

The probe started when Ramos was allegedly caught on a wiretap talking about fixing tickets.

Undercover video captured Ramos using a police car to drive a shipment of supposed drugs from the Bronx to Brooklyn.

"I don't deny I've done wrong," said a contrite and tearful Jose Ramos, who begged a Bronx criminal court judge for leniency Wednesday afternoon saying: "I take full responsibility for my actions."

That's a far cry from a defiant veteran cop who spoke with me exclusively in a jailhouse interview from Rikers in February of 2012.

("You're accused of dealing drugs, robbing people, shaking them down," we said.) "Never," he said. ("None of that.") "None of that," said Ramos.

Ramos was arrested in October of 2011 with more than a dozen other cops accused in a ticket fixing scandal.

But the 40th precinct officer was slapped with additional, far more serious charges including conspiring with drug dealers.

He was convicted in October of attempted robbery and drug possession, prosecutors saying Ramos agreed to take $10,000 to transport what he thought was heroin.

In a damning video, part of an undercover sting, Ramos, in full uniform, reassures an informant not to worry about police checkpoints.

"To be honest with you, my heart didn't skip a beat," he says. "Are you out of your mind?," said the informant. "You don't know the power of the blue," said Ramos.

The judge gave the former cop a minimum of 12 and a half years in prison saying: "You have utterly disgraced your badge, your uniform, and your oath to uphold the law."

Several of Ramos' family members, including his daughter, left in tears, as his attorney maintained the officer never denied wrongdoing..

"How can you say he didn't deny it. He told me he didn't do anything," we asked.

"He did things that were offensive that he shouldn't have as a police officer, but he didn't do the things from the very beginning the DA said he did," said attorney Matt Kruger.

The DA says Ramos did even more. He's also accused of conspiring to murder a witness.

In 179 fatalities involving on-duty NYPD cops in 15 years, only 3 cases led to indictments — and just 1 conviction

A Daily News analysis of NYPD-involved deaths starts with the 1999 slaying of unarmed Amadou Diallo in a hail of bullets in the Bronx and ends with last month’s shooting death of Akai Gurley in a Brooklyn stairwell. Where race was known, 86% were black or Hispanic.

BY  Sarah Ryley  ,  Nolan Hicks  ,  Thomas Tracy  ,  John Marzulli  ,  Dareh Gregorian  /

 A Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict white NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the chokehold death of Eric Garner — a black father of six — stunned large swaths of the city and added fuel to a nationwide surge of protests over police killings.

But history shows the odds were always in Pantaleo’s favor.

A Daily News investigation found that at least 179 people were killed by on-duty NYPD officers over the past 15 years. Just three of the deaths have led to an indictment in state court. In another case, a judge threw out the indictment on technical grounds and it was not reinstated.

Only one officer who killed someone while on duty has been convicted, but he was not sentenced to jail time.

The analysis of the police-involved deaths begins with the 1999 slaying of unarmed Amadou Diallo in a hail of bullets and ends with last month’s shooting death of Akai Gurley, who police say was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired by a rookie cop in a darkened housing project stairwell in Brooklyn. Gurley was also unarmed.

The News found that since 1999:

 Roughly 27% of people killed by cops were unarmed..

 Where race was known, 86% were black or Hispanic..

 Twenty-one people were killed — three of them by off-duty cops — in 2012, the highest during the 15-year span..

Former NYPD Officer Bryan Conroy was convicted in 2005 of criminally negligent homicide for gunning down West African immigrant Ousmane Zongo, 43, during a counterfeit goods raid at a Chelsea warehouse two years earlier.

 Zongo — a married father of two who was never implicated in the counterfeit goods investigation — worked at the warehouse and happened upon Conroy, who was disguised as a postal worker when he drew his weapon. Conroy shot Zongo four times.

Conroy’s first trial ended in a hung jury. A judge convicted him in a second trial and sentenced him to five years of probation and 500 hours of community service.

“In most of those cases it would be the local district attorney who’s bringing up the charges, if any,” said Robert Gangi, executive director of the Prison Reform Organizing Project.

“There’s an inherent conflict of interest. . . . The police and DA work very closely together, and so they need each other to carry out their jobs,” said Gangi, adding he’s encouraged by the mainstream political support from Gov. Cuomo to state Assembly members to create a special prosecutor who would handle police-involved deaths.

The News’ analysis was based on information compiled by organizations such as the Prison Reform Organizing Project and the Stolen Lives Project, the NYPD’s annual firearms discharge reports, press reports, and court documents. The News only included deaths that involved an active member of the force and were a direct result of the officer’s actions. So, cases where individuals died from swallowing drugs during an arrest or hitting a tree during a car chase, for example, were not included.

The News found 222 deaths total during the 15-year span — 43 of which involved off-duty officers, some of whom bravely stepped in when they saw trouble, others who were embroiled in personal disputes or driving drunk. The News was only able to identify 10 convictions covering 14 of those off-duty deaths, and one case that is ongoing.

Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, pointed out that during the same time period, nearly 80 officers have been killed in the line of duty, a number that includes cops who heroically died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and from related health complications.

“When there is a life-or-death situation on the street, be it an armed robbery, a homicidal maniac on the street or someone driving a vehicle in a dangerous and potentially deadly way, it is New York City police officers who step in and take the risk away from the public and put it on themselves,” Lynch said in a statement. “Our work has saved tens of thousands of lives by assuming the risk and standing between New Yorkers and life-threatening danger.”

The NYPD declined to comment for this article or provide its own internal statistics on officer-involved deaths, and the information has not been submitted to the FBI since 2006.

Commissioner Bill Bratton defended his department in a recent interview on “Good Day New York,” saying, “We have some of the lowest number of incidents of taking lives in this country.”

Some of the deaths reviewed by The News involved fierce firefights and death-defying heroism by New York’s Finest — like when off-duty Officer Ivan Marcano, on a night out with his girlfriend, took down an armed robber as he clutched his own gunshot wound to the chest. Marcano was later honored by President Obama.

There’s an inherent conflict of interest. . . . The police and DA work very closely together, and so they need each other to carry out their jobs.

Officer Richard Burt gunned down assassin Othneil Askew in 2003 after Askew murdered Councilman James Davis in City Hall. Four rookie cops took down hatchet-wielding madman Zale Thompson in Jamaica, Queens, in October.

But in more than a quarter of the on-duty fatalities the victim was unarmed — some were cases of mistaken identity or innocent bystanders. Others like Garner were implicated in low-level crimes (he was accused of selling untaxed cigarettes).

And roughly 20% involved people who were emotionally disturbed, such as Iman Morales, who in 2008 was found naked and waving a fluorescent bulb on the second-floor ledge of a building on Tompkins Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Cops tried to subdue him with a Taser, and Morales fell headfirst onto the concrete below and died.

Lt. Michael Pigott, who ordered the use of the Taser, took his own life eight days later.

“I have never in 30 years met any police officers who, as he drove into work, said, ‘Today I am going to get into a shooting, kill someone, become a headline and lose my job and my pension,’ ” said Ed Mullins, the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association.

Mullins said many people don’t realize the lifetime impact a death has on officers.

“Their personality changes. . . . They become quiet. They go about their business, but they’re not the same people they used to be.”

Diallo, an African immigrant, was standing in the vestibule of his Bronx apartment building when four white anti-crime cops mistook him for a rape suspect. They ordered him to show his hands; Diallo tried to show them his wallet. The officers mistook it for a gun, and 41 bullets later, the 22-year-old was dead.

The officers were acquitted of murder charges a year later — setting off a sea of protests, new police training procedures and numerous studies of how racial bias influences snap decisions on whether to shoot.

Amadou Diallo was fatally shot by NYPD officers Feb. 4, 1999, in the Bronx. Amadou Diallo was fatally shot by NYPD officers Feb. 4, 1999, in the Bronx.Patrick Dorismond, March 16, 2000, in Manhattan. Timothy Stansbury, Jan. 24, 2009, in Brooklyn. Leonel Disla,Oct. 30, 2005, in the Bronx. Fermin Arzu, May 18, 2007, in the Bronx. Jayson Tirado, Oct. 21, 2007, in Manhattan.

But the number of on-duty police killings has not gone down. The News tallied 11 in 1999, the year Diallo was killed, and 12 this year. In 2012, there were 18, the highest during the 15-year span.

“There’s a lot of frustration,” said lawyer Norman Siegel, a longtime advocate of reforming the grand jury system.

The Garner case was a rare instance in which video clearly showed the chain of events leading up to a death. Garner protested what he perceived as harassment, saying, “I can’t breathe” 11 times as he was put into a chokehold and piled on by several officers.

The shocking video of the chokehold that led to Garner’s death on July 17 in Tompkinsville, S.I., was first published by NYDailyNews.com.

The medical examiner’s office ruled his death a homicide caused by the chokehold. Obesity was a contributing factor in the 43-year-old man’s death, the medical examiner found.

There have been other cases where unarmed civilians died after being choked or having their chests compressed by officers where there were no such videos — and no public outrage and no grand jury hearings.

James Young, a 49-year-old father of three, fell into a coma and later died after he was choked by a narcotics detective “for an extended period of time” until he started foaming at the mouth and lost consciousness, a lawsuit claims. The Brooklyn district attorney declined to prosecute the case, and the civil lawsuit was settled for $832,500 in June.

Siegel, who represented Young’s widow, said the Garner case demonstrates that even a damning video does not guarantee accountability.

“A video might have been helpful in James Young’s case, but the real problem is still the secret grand jury process and the lack of a special prosecutor,” Siegel said.

A mentally ill woman, Shereese Francis, 29, of Queens, died of heart failure in 2012 after being suffocated by four male officers who were called to get her in an ambulance because she hadn’t been taking her meds, another lawsuit claims.

After a 14-month investigation that included several home visits and interviews with family members who were present on the day of the death, the Queens DA declined to prosecute, according to court records. The family was awarded $1.1 million in a civil lawsuit in May.

The family’s lawyer said her death was ruled a homicide due to compression of the chest. She, like Garner, was obese, and the cops applied a chokehold on her for a short time as well, lawyer Steve Vaccarro said.

New York prosecutors, like their counterparts across the nation, have had difficulties scoring indictments against cops.

In Manhattan — where The News found 41 deaths involving on-duty cops since 1999 — the prosecutor who got the conviction in the Zongo case, former Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau, had a policy to present all cases involving fatal shootings by cops to a grand jury. It’s a policy that’s being continued by his successor, Cyrus Vance Jr.

“I wanted people to have confidence in the integrity of law enforcement and the criminal justice system,” Morgenthau told The News. “If I would pick and choose the cases, people would lack confidence in the objectivity of the prosecutor.”

A video might have been helpful in James Young’s case, but the real problem is still the secret grand jury process and the lack of a special prosecutor.

Some controversial cases in Brooklyn — where The News found 75 deaths involving on-duty officers — never made it to a grand jury, despite promises from former District Attorney Charles Hynes that they were under active investigation. Instead, those cases withered on the vine, preventing police from proceeding with departmental investigations and the victims’ families from proceeding with civil cases.

“I’m very upset my son’s case never reached a grand jury,” said Laverne Dobbinson, whose son Tamon Robinson was fatally struck by an NYPD cruiser in April 2012 as cops chased him for stealing rocks from the grounds of a housing project in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

“It was just swept under the rug,” she said.

A probe into the July 11, 2009, death of Army veteran Shem Walker dragged on for more than four years, as Hynes said he was weighing how to proceed.

Walker, a married 49-year-old Army vet, got into a scuffle with an undercover officer he’d tried to move from the stoop of his grandmother’s building in Fort Greene. Walker didn’t know the man was a cop observing a buy-and-bust operation nearby, and the altercation got physical. Police said Walker punched the undercover, then the undercover shot Walker three times.

It was Hynes’ successor, Kenneth Thompson, who finally decided not to submit the case to a grand jury earlier this year.

“There was absolutely no reason that I can fathom for keeping these cases open for so long,” said the Walker family’s lawyer, Scott Rynecki. “The fact that prior DA Hynes sat on these cases for so long left no choice for the new DA because so much time had passed. The families are entitled to closure.”

Hynes declined to comment.

Bronx DA Robert Johnson managed to score a manslaughter indictment against Officer Richard Haste for the shooting death of Ramarley Graham in 2012.

Haste said he’d followed Graham into his E. 229th St. home as part of a drug investigation, and opened fire on the 18-year-old when the teen reached for his waistband. No weapon was found.

But Johnson’s victory was short-lived. A judge tossed the indictment, finding prosecutors made a mistake in their presentation. He presented the case to a grand jury again, and said he was “surprised and shocked” when the grand jury voted not to indict.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown prosecuted three officers for manslaughter and reckless endangerment for the 2006 killing of Sean Bell — another death that sparked nationwide protests. Bell was leaving his bachelor party at a Jamaica strip club with two friends when cops unleashed a fusillade of 50 bullets at their gray Nissan Altima.

The feds are investigating the Graham and Garner cases for possible civil rights violations. But Siegel noted it’s been two decades since the feds last prosecuted a fatal police case in New York.

Anthony Baez, 29, was tossing a football around with his brothers in the Bronx when the ball hit a squad car in 1994. Officer Frank Livoti became enraged and squeezed the life out of Baez with a chokehold. A Bronx grand jury indicted him and he was acquitted by a judge of criminally negligent homicide.

Livoti was convicted in 1998 of federal civil rights violations and served nearly seven years in prison.

Siegel said the Garner case would be more difficult for the feds because Garner was a criminal suspect, albeit a very low-level one.

As for the shooting death of Gurley, who was laid to rest Saturday, sources told The News that Thompson will empanel a grand jury by the end of the month to consider possible charges against rookie cop Peter Liang.

Several state and local politicians, meanwhile, have called for a special prosecutor to handle all cases where people have been killed by police, believing local district attorneys can’t pursue them objectively because they work so closely with cops.

Editor's note: The News added that the 80 officers killed in the line of duty over the past 15 years, a figure provided by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, include those who died of illnesses related to their work after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

The epidemic of mentally ill cops

 Dalton police officer charged with child molestation

 Bryan reserve officer charged with indecency with a child, 58 counts of child pornography

Daniel Guadalupe: Retired NYPD officer accused of raping teenage girl for years in Palm Beach County

 Las Cruces cop gets lengthy prison sentence for sex with minor

 Irwindale Cop Pleads No Contest To Sex Charges Involving 2 Teenage Girls

Dalton police officer charged with child molestation

Jon Gargis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A recently sworn-in Dalton police officer is off the job following his arrest Thursday on a child molestation charge.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Officer Daniel Tolbert just after 5 p.m., Dalton police spokesman Bruce Frazier said Thursday night. The arrest came nine days after the department placed Tolbert on administrative leave immediately after being informed by the GBI and the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office that he was under investigation on suspicion of child molestation.

“I am very disappointed to hear about this allegation, and upset about the discredit this will surely bring on our department and officers,” Dalton Police Chief Jason Parker said in a news release Thursday. “We would never condone or support the kind of behavior that would warrant this charge. The men and women of this department hold ourselves to a very high standard of behavior, and we know the community we serve expects our behavior to be beyond reproach.”

Though police officials did not have specifics on the allegations against Tolbert, Frazier said the alleged incident did not occur while Tolbert was on the job. At the time of his suspension, he was in the department’s field training program, and as a trainee, he was never unsupervised or alone while on duty. Probationary trainees, Frazier added, ride with an experienced training officer for at least four months after completing the police academy.

Tolbert, 32, completed the police academy in September and was sworn in as an officer on Sept. 16. Though Tolbert is currently on administrative leave, the city will begin the termination process immediately, Frazier said.

Prior to joining Dalton’s police force, Tolbert served in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Border Patrol in California and was a jail deputy with the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, according to the police department’s blog.

Former Bryan reserve officer charged with indecency with a child, 58 counts of child pornography

 By ANDREA SALAZAR andrea.salazar@theeagle.com  |

A former Bryan reserve police officer was indicted Thursday on 58 counts of child pornography and one count of indecency with a child.

Dennis Fraley, 62, was among 34 people indicted by a Brazos County grand jury during its bi-monthly meeting to determine whether there is enough evidence to move forward with prosecution. Texas Rangers and Brazos County sheriff’s deputies took him into custody Thursday evening.

Fraley was out on $45,000 bail at the time. He had been arrested in September on three counts of possession of child pornography, which is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, after a friend noticed inappropriate photographs on Fraley’s phone while helping him install an application, according to the probable cause affidavit for the arrest.

Fraley resigned from the Bryan Police Department following his September arrest, during which he told investigators he had “arrested people like him” and that he “had been sick for a couple of years,” according to the court document.

The grand jury also indicted two men Thursday accused of robbing a College Station Holiday Inn in November 2012.

Denzel Neal, 21, and Christopher Elmore, 22, were each charged with one count of first-degree felony aggravated robbery in connection with the 2012 incident in which the men reportedly emptied a hotel cash register after threatening the clerk with a gun, according to the probable cause affidavit for their arrest.

The clerk told police the men had asked for jumper cables before one revealed a pistol in the waist of his pants when the clerk said he could not leave the front desk, investigators said in the report.

Both admitted to robbing the hotel two years ago while on their way to Austin, police said.

Other offenses on this week’s indictment list included state jail felony drug charges and second-degree felony aggravated assault and burglary.

Daniel Guadalupe: Retired NYPD officer accused of raping teenage girl for years in Palm Beach County

A retired NYPD officer is under arrest, accused of raping a teenage girl over several years in suburban Boynton Beach.

Daniel Guadalupe, 56, is facing charges of sexual battery, lewd or lascivious molestation and false imprisonment. He is being held on $250,000 bail at the Palm Beach County Jail.

According to an arrest affidavit, Guadalupe sexually assaulted the now-17-year-old victim beginning when she was in eighth grade, and continuing though the summer between her freshman and sophomore year.

The victim told investigators that the situation escalated from inappropriate touching to Guadalupe forcing her to have sex with him. She said that she has been suppressing her memories of the abuse.

She described to investigators about one incident in which he held her down and sexually assaulted her, during which time she struggled to get away. She recalled he said to her afterwards, "Did you really have to put up that much of a fight, it doesn't really have to be that way," and to "just get over it."

She said that over the years she would give in to his demands just to get him to stop.

On Wednesday, one of the victim's relatives confronted Guadalupe in a controlled phone call with PBSO investigators present. On the call he made numerous admissions and apologized for getting "carried away playing around."

  

Former Las Cruces cop gets lengthy prison sentence

LAS CRUCES (AP) – A former Las Cruces police detective faces a lengthy prison term after being sentenced in a sex case involving minors.

State District Judge Fernando Macias on Monday sentenced former Detective Michael Garcia to 30 years in prison but suspended 10 years of the sentence.

Garcia was convicted of multiple counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor.

He was initially arrested in August 2013 and accused of sexually assaulting a minor and then arrested again in September 2013 on additional charges involving another victim.

Garcia has already received a nine-year federal sentence in a case involving a teenage girl who was an intern with the Police Department in 2013.

The sentences will run at the same time, with Garcia serving the federal sentence first.

Former Irwindale Cop Pleads No Contest To Sex Charges Involving 2 Teenage Girls

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A former Irwindale police officer pleaded no contest Friday to sex-related charges involving two girls in the department’s Explorer Program.

Daniel Camerano, 27, pleaded no contest to three felony counts, including using a minor for sex acts, oral copulation of a person under 16 and contact with a minor for sexual offense.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Georgina Torres Rizk ordered Camerano not to have any contact with the two girls.

Camerano, who is free on bond, is expected to be sentenced Jan. 20 for two years and eight months in state prison and to be ordered to register for the rest of his life as a sex offender.

Three other charges filed against him earlier this year are expected to be dismissed when he is sentenced.

Camerano, who served as an adviser to the department’s Explorer Program, resigned from the police department in June after eight years on the force.

Prosecutors say Camerano began a sexual relationship with the 14-year-old girl between May 2009 and December 2010 and sent suggestive text messages to 17-year-old girl in November 2012. Both girls were in the department’s Explorer Program.

The charges against Camerano is the third case against a former Irwindale police officer in just over a year.

Former officer David Paul Fraijo pleaded no contest Oct. 3 to one count each of oral copulation under color of authority and sexual battery by restraint involving a woman he pulled over during an October 2012 traffic stop. He is facing up to nine years in state prison, with sentencing set Jan. 12.

Another former officer, Dennis Alva, pleaded no contest last September to a felony grand theft charge. He was sentenced in November 2013 to one year in county jail and ordered to repay $250,000 in cash to his elderly father.