Are insurance companies the answer to police reform?

by Lyle Adriano | 

Insurance companies can help keep law enforcement personnel in line—that was the idea posited in a recent report on National Public Radio.

With issues of police brutality and abuse sprouting across America, the reformation of the country’s police forces has been seriously considered. The government, however, is limited to what it can do to change the agencies for the better.

The article cities research from University of Chicago assistant law professor John Rappaport, who found that insurers were actively trying to limit the liability of the police departments they cover.

"One of the first things I found was this pamphlet from Travelers Insurance about how to do a strip search, and I just thought people in my world have no idea that this stuff is out there and it's really fascinating," said Rappaport.

By coming across similar material on the Internet, Rappaport realized that police departments typically do not feel the financial pain of a lawsuit. When a lawsuit is filed against an officer for his or her actions, neither the officer’s nor his or her department’s money is at stake.

On the hand, if the city has liability insurance, the insurer instead will be on the receiving end of the burden and would do something to lessen the risk.

"They look for ways to push police departments in a direction of reduced risk," Rappaport reasoned.

It has been observed that non-profit insurance pools—particularly those in the Western states—have been the most “hands-on” when it came to providing police departments with support and educational information, such as the latest court precedents on the use of force and the like. Some of these insurers have even gone out their way to pay for the police departments’ special training.

Another law professor featured in the article, Joanna Schwartz of UCLA, agrees with Rappaport that “insurers can play the role of an honest broker to force a city to learn from its police department's mistakes.”

"They are highly motivated to reform because it affects their bottom line, and they're not constrained by any of the political counterforces that could prevent the city council or mayor from pushing hard on a law enforcement agency to reform," Schwartz remarked.

Clinton Urges Police Reform During Campaign

LAURA FIGUEROA ON APR 4, 2016

NEW YORK -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaigned in Brooklyn yesterday, telling congregants at three predominantly black churches that she would fight to reduce gun violence and “increase trust” between police departments and the communities they serve.

“No one should have to face the loss of a beloved,” Clinton told the audience of some 3,000 African-American churchgoers at the Christian Cultural Center in Canarsie.

Clinton also appeared at Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Clinton Hill and Mount Pisgah Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where she pledged to end racial profiling among law enforcement agencies.

The appearances came as Clinton tries to shore up support against her rival, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, before New York’s April 19 primary.

Clinton, the former secretary of state who also served as New York’s U.S. senator for eight years, leads Sanders 54 percent to 42 percent among statewide voters, according to a Quinnipiac Poll released last Thursday.

But Sanders has narrowed the polling gap over the past month. A Siena College poll released March 7 had Clinton ahead by 21 points and an Emerson College poll released March 16 had her leading by 48 points.

At the churches, Clinton acknowledged the endorsement of Nicole Bell, whose fiancé Sean Bell was shot to death in 2006 by plainclothes police officers on the morning of his wedding, as he left a Queens strip club where he had been celebrating his bachelor party.

Undercover NYPD officers shot into Bell’s car 50 times, wounding two of his friends, saying at the time they believed the men were carrying weapons, when in fact the men were unarmed. The city later paid a $7 million settlement to Bell’s family and his friends.

“I remember as your senator being heartsick about this event,” Clinton told the audience at the Christian Cultural Center, saying she would build on the advocacy work of Bell’s fiancé and other anti gun-violence activists to improve community policing policies and gun laws.

At Brown Memorial Baptist Church, before some 100 congregants, Clinton emphasized her local ties, saying she had the “New York know-how” to deliver on her campaign promises.

She “humbly” asked for the support of more than 100 churchgoers at Mount Pisgah, saying she would “tackle systemic racism” and continue President Barack Obama’s push for affordable health care coverage.

On Monday, Clinton is scheduled to appear with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in Manhattan for a rally to celebrate last week’s passage of a state minimum wage hike. Clinton will also headline the Suffolk Democrats’ $300-a-head spring dinner on April 11.

Bill Clinton will campaign on behalf of his wife in Elmont on Tuesday, with an 11a.m. appearance at The Vault, according to a campaign news release.

With Rick Brand

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INQUIRY

•           US Justice Dept. lawyers to Portland police: Drop 'us vs. them' mentality in police training

•           Portland police shouldn't buy body cameras until more money found, budget analysts suggest

•           Attorney General Loretta Lynch praises 'peaceful resolution' to Oregon standoff

•           Loretta Lynch -- and Officer Paresa -- bring inspiration for George Middle sixth-graders

•           Attorney General Loretta Lynch arrives in Portland Wednesday to recognize community policing partners

U.S. Justice Department lawyers have urged Portland police to drop their "us vs. them'' mentality in officer training after observing the bureau's annual weeklong refresher training for its force.

They also recommended that the bureau minimize use of military combat photos in active-shooter training, include community volunteers in scenario-based instruction and find a way to allow residents to share their perspectives about their experiences with officers as part of training.

"As an overarching concern, we observed at several points PPB instructors reinforced a sense of PPB being on the opposite side of the public whom they police and serve,'' the federal civil rights lawyers wrote.

The federal review of training is the latest critique of police practices since the Justice Department found in 2012 that Portland police engaged in a pattern of excessive force against people with mental illness. The federal investigation also found that Portland police fired multiple cycles of stun guns unnecessarily and failed to wait between cycles to allow a suspect to follow their commands.

A negotiated settlement reached with the city and approved by a federal judge in August 2014 calls for a wide range of changes to police policies, training and oversight and regular reviews by the Justice Department.

Training Capt. Bryan Parman said the letter from the federal lawyers is helpful to provide "the Police Bureau with additional clarity on the requirements of the agreement."

He said the bureau has made substantial changes since the settlement and will continue over the years to make sure that police fully adopt its provisions.

The Rev. Leroy Haynes, chair of the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform, and the Rev. T. Allen Bethel, coalition co-chair, thanked the Justice Department for keeping their eye on police training. The coalition was granted friend of the court status and allowed to provide input on the settlement agreement.

"The DOJ has hit on many points the coalition and members of the community have been concerned about for a long time,'' Haynes and Bethel wrote to the federal department.

While the federal officials were impressed with the bureau's new training center off Northeast Airport Way, its defensive tactics training and scenario-based training, their review found lapses in instruction and made these recommendations to the city attorney's office:

-- Police trainers should incorporate a review of bureau policies when teaching tactics or technical skills, whether it's on the use of Tasers or providing emergency medical care to a wounded suspect. The review found bureau training on less-lethal weapons rushed and incomplete.

"As much as possible, technical skills should be trained in the context of the policy governing those skills,'' the federal assessment said.

-- The bureau should better examine whether officers have learned the material. The bureau didn't use written, individual quizzes on policy or tactics to determine each officer's competency or set any measures to determine if officers learned the material, the review found.

In one class, instructors gave an eight-question quiz on the bureau's use of force policy, but officers didn't write their names on the quizzes. Similarly, the bureau asked officers to fill out a survey anonymously regarding the weeklong training.

Written on the survey was a note to officers that it could be subject to a public records request. "That admonition seems intended to discourage criticism,'' the federal review said.

-- Bureau training on its use of force policy needs updating. The bureau distributed an easy-to-carry card to officers on the policy to keep in their pockets or wallets, but the card already is out of date, the federal attorneys noted. The reviewers also found the card confusing.

-- The week's 40-hour training devotes significant time to firearms refresher instruction, but the review said the training should give more emphasis to officers' decision-making skills and understanding of policy.

The bureau "could and should re-enforce the concepts of de-escalation and rendering aid to a subject during the firearms training, rather than focusing solely on technical skills,'' the review found.

-- In one of the deadly-force scenario training exercises, the reviewers expressed concern about the long delay before officers moved in to provide emergency aid to the wounded suspect.

They discussed their concern with Police Chief Larry O'Dea.

O'Dea told them that the bureau's policy has improved. Now, officers wait for a supervisor to respond to the scene with a tactical shield so officers can approach a suspect safely, he said. They used to require the callout of the bureau's Special Emergency Response Team, which could take 45 minutes. Supervisors carry shields in their police cars, cutting down on the response time, O'Dea told the federal officials.

Federal civil rights attorneys said in the review that the change still may not meet the settlement's requirement for police to provide aid as soon as possible. They also pointed out that even with the tactical shield, some officers remained just as exposed to potential harm as they would have been if they immediately gave aid.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Tasers will only short-circuit path to true police reform

In response to President Barack Obama’s 21st Century Task Force on Policing, the San Francisco Police Department began adopting many of its recommendations. The graphic killing of Mario Woods has intensified the department’s self-examination on how it can and must do better. We applaud the changes in policies and philosophies, as well as the advances in training at the academy.

The important reforms include better training, reporting and supervision each time a gun is drawn, expansion of the Crisis Intervention Team, creation of a new bureau to bring community policing to the forefront, and new training in implicit bias, cultural competency and procedural justice.

These are necessary steps to rebuild trust and legitimacy in the wake of a number of police shootings. A survey of youth by Jamestown Community Center recently reported that “police brutality” was at the very top of children’s concerns. These measures show that the department understands the importance of showing dignity, respect and compassion to the people it serves and rebuilding connections to the community.

A police department is only as good as the relationship it has with the community it serves. In San Francisco’s communities of color in particular, that relationship is in serious crisis. The introduction of Tasers right now would be a jarring misstep in the attempt to reestablish harmony between police and community and would undermine efforts to emphasize the importance of building rapport and de-escalation.

The effect of Tasers is not fully understood enough to know if they would be a better weapon than guns, but right now, we need more words, time, and understanding — we don’t need more weapons which will be used by the police against the people they are meant to protect.

There have been a number of studies of Tasers, but barely any have been independent. Heart doctors at UCSF set out to gauge the accuracy of 50 published studies on the potential dangers of using Taser products. They found that among the product safety studies they analyzed, the likelihood of a study concluding Taser devices are safe was 75 percent higher when the studies were either funded by the manufacturer or written by authors affiliated with the company, than when studies were conducted independently.

In their examination of data post-introduction of Tasers in municipalities across the country, the study found that fatal shootings by police more than doubled in the first year after adoption. In the following years, the numbers go down but remain higher than the pre-Taser time period. In-custody deaths skyrocket by 500 percent the first year after these devices were introduced. That number drops down in the following years, but again remains higher than before Tasers were introduced.

Individuals are not only severely injured but killed by these devices, and they have been banned in cities like Portland, after demonstrating extreme bias in their use. Because half of the SFPD officer-involved shootings are of individuals in psychiatric crisis, using Tasers instead of a gun likely would have the same fatal potential because of the medications in play.

Chief Greg Suhr has introduced language that allows the use of these devices by a limited number of officers and circumstances, however, it is believed by many community members that once introduced, they will be expanded to the rest of the department. This is the crux of the problem, there is enough doubt about these weapons, and their introduction is so contrary to the positive steps SFPD has taken to decrease the use of force, that an introduction of a new weapon at this time will only inflame distrust and harm the relationship that so many have worked to repair.

It is for these reasons that we urge the commission and the department to put the discussion of Tasers on hold and give de-escalation, new training and community policing a chance. The underlying philosophy of teaching officers to listen to people and take the time to talk things down, is undercut by a less-lethal weapon that can literally stop the heart from beating. We need to build real connections between officers and the communities they serve and Tasers will act only to short-circuit the path to true reform.

Victor Hwang and Petra de Jesus are members of the San Francisco Police Commission.

After Fairfax police ticket cars awaiting state inspection, Va. passes law banning it

By Tom Jackman April 7 

Bruce H. Redwine, longtime owner of Chantilly Service Center, whose customers’ cars were frequently ticketed while awaiting state inspection. Virginia has now enacted a law to prohibit police from issuing such tickets. (Tom Jackman/The Washington Post)

The story of Bruce Redwine and the Chantilly Service Center made people mad. For years, he and other auto shop owners watched with outrage as a Fairfax County parking enforcement officer ticketed cars that were awaiting state inspection or repair. One shop owner estimated his customers had been hit with $60,000 worth of fines and fees for expired inspection stickers or tags over six years. Redwine got so angry he snatched one ticket out of the parking officer’s hand, only to be charged with felony assault on a police officer.

State Del. James M. LeMunyon (R-Fairfax) investigated the situation after reading about it in The Washington Post in October. He introduced a bill in December to prohibit ticketing cars awaiting state inspection, and it passed both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly unanimously.  On Wednesday, Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed the bill into law, his spokesman said.

“Cool,” said Redwine, working as usual in his shop in the Mariah Business Center off Route 28 Wednesday afternoon. “Absolutely it’s a good thing. But most people waiting for inspections weren’t a target. Here, people were targeted by the condo association, which was using the Fairfax parking police as their agent. It’s not so much the police were targeting as the [condominium management],” he said, using a more colorful adjective for the association which oversees the industrial park on Sullyfield Circle.

[Fairfax car repair shops say parking enforcement targets their customers]

There was not much dispute that cars with expired tags or registration were being ticketed in Mariah, largely because Mariah’s property management firm had provided Fairfax police with a letter in 2009 specifically granting police permission to enforce county traffic, parking and towing ordinances on the private property. The auto shop operators all rent from owners of individual units in the industrial park, and their owners claimed to be powerless to revoke or change the police letter because they weren’t on the condo board of directors. J.R. Motz, the park’s property manager for Commercial Condominium Management, declined to answer questions about the letter or the condo board.

 Fairfax County police parking enforcement Officer Jacquelyn D. Hogue. Her aggressive enforcement of parking laws led to an uproar and a new state law prohibiting ticketing of vehicles awaiting state inspection. (Fairfax County Police Department)

One parking enforcement officer in particular, Jacquelyn D. Hogue, was a regular in ticketing cars outside the repair shops, the shop operators said and court records showed. When she entered the industrial park, word spread rapidly and shop employees hustled to move their customers’ cars inside before Hogue could slap a ticket on them. Redwine, who’s been running Chantilly Service Center for 21 years, said he did state inspections and emissions tests first thing in the morning, to make sure no expired stickers were visible, but cars sometimes failed, and repairs sometimes took time.

Shoaib Massoud, the operator of A-Zee Auto Repair, said, “The cars are coming here for repair. I talk to her [Hogue] politely, but no good. We are suffering, for sure.” Hogue declined to comment, but a Fairfax police spokeswoman said Hogue was merely responding to a request for service, and that Motz and Mariah had repeatedly sought heavier parking enforcement.

In one episode in October 2014, Hogue ticketed one of Redwine’s customers’ cars even though he had moved the car into his garage. As Hogue walked toward him with the ticket extended, Redwine said he snatched it out of her hand. He admitted using some insulting language toward her, but not touching her. Hogue later went to a magistrate who issued a felony warrant for Redwine. Redwine had to surrender himself at the Fairfax jail, be handcuffed, booked, fingerprinted and photographed.

Then he went to trial, where Fairfax prosecutors reduced the charge to a misdemeanor — Hogue is not a police officer — but Redwine was convicted and sentenced to four days in jail. He appealed to circuit court and in September 2015 a jury found him not guilty after 20 minutes of deliberation. But he had to spend thousands in legal fees to reach that result.

“The police ought to have better things to do,” LeMunyon said after visiting the auto shops last fall, “than play ‘Gotcha!’ with people who are trying to comply with the law.”

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[Va. lawmaker proposes ban against ticketing cars waiting for state inspections]

There are already a number of vehicles which are exempt from inspection in Virginia, to include antique cars and newly purchased vehicles. LeMunyon in December proposed adding vehicles “parked in an official inspection station’s designated parking area.” But as the bill went through the General Assembly, the Senate changed it to vehicles “parked on a highway and that have been submitted for a motor vehicle safety inspection to an official inspection station.”

On Thursday, LeMunyon said the new law is “an example of how government can address the practical concerns that face people, and do so in a bipartisan way.”

The House approved the bill 99-0 in January, the Senate approved it with its change 39-0 in February, and the House approved that amendment 38-0 in March. McAuliffe signed the bill Wednesday, his spokesman Brian Coy said.

“One would think you don’t need to legislate common sense,” said Dickson Young, Redwine’s attorney who won his acquittal. “If the Fairfax police had exercised some common sense, legislation wouldn’t have been necessary.”

Tom Jackman has been covering criminal justice for The Post since 1998, and now anchors the new "True Crime" blog.

Herrity: Fairfax County Board Made Decisions Not to Disclose Geer Information

Springfield supervisor speaks up on transparency at first committee meeting to review 140+ recommendations from ad hoc police commission.

Members of the Board of Supervisors and representatives of the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission met at the Oct. 27 public safety committee to begin reviewing the 142 final recommendations of the commission, including a civilian review board and independent auditor. Photo by Tim Peterson.

By Tim Peterson

Fairfax County Police Department Chief Edwin Roessler explains a new police process change flow chart at the Oct. 27 meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ public safety committee meeting.

#While Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond Morrogh was held up as one source of stalling the release information regarding the 2013 shooting death of Springfield man John Geer by then-Fairfax County police officer Adam Torres, Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) offered that “decisions we made” on the Board of Supervisors, on the counsel of the Fairfax County attorney, were also responsible for Torres’ name, discrepancies in the investigation and other details of the incident being withheld from the public and Geer’s family until a lawsuit finally forced the police department to release everything.

#Herrity spoke up during a meeting of the board’s public safety committee on Oct. 27 to discuss the 142 final recommendations of the the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission created in the spring by Board Chairman Sharon Bulova.

#Bulova responded that it was county policy to not release the name of officers in an officer involved shooting until the Commonwealth’s Attorney decided whether or not to pursue criminal charges against the officer. In the case of Geer, “obviously that didn’t go well,” She said. “It just didn’t happen for a very, very long time in this case.”

#Herrity came back that the Board of Supervisors made the decision to withhold both the name and details about Geer’s death.

#Lack of any information about the case for more than 16 months fueled public frustration. The ad hoc commission report on communications referred to a cultural predisposition not to disclose information within the police department and Board of Supervisors.

#Torres is now being held at the Adult Detention Center awaiting trial on second degree murder in Geer’s death.

#During her report on communications subcommittee recommendations, Merni Fitzgerald highlighted the recommendations for “maximum disclosure, minimum delay” in terms of information sharing, the need for a civilian public information officer, establishing a written process for giving out information and providing more “open data” to the public.

#Deputy county executive and former Police Chief David Rohrer explained at the Oct. 27 meeting how county staff and the police department were already digesting the report and organizing it into a “matrix” to sort, prioritize and track changes, costs and timelines.

#“There have a been a lot of challenges,” Rohrer said. “We see this as an opportunity to move forward.”

#The deputy county executive referenced body cameras and an independent review board as examples of “not so straightforward” recommendations that would require discussion. He added that there’s “no one review model,” and whatever form of oversight is chosen “has to be fair to all, the community, others and police officers.”

#Some recommendations in the areas of mental health and use of force have already begun to be implemented, especially ones that repeated recommendations from the previously completed Police Executive Research Forum study.

#“We’re not afraid of scrutiny,” Rohrer said. “These powers are granted to police by the public — trust has to be maintained.”

#POLICE CHIEF Edwin Roessler said some of the changes already made or in the process of being implemented include the hostage barricade policy, creating a culture of “slow it down, hold and contain” for dealing with tense situations and mandating all first line supervisors report directly to the full-time policy change team.

#“The law enforcement profession needs to re-engineer itself,” Roessler said. “The sanctity of preservation of human life has to be paramount.”

#During the report from the commission’s independent oversight subcommittee, members of the commission further explained the functions of their recommendations for a civilian review board and independent auditor.

#Chiefly, the auditor would be outside the police department and become involved in the process, embedded with police, as soon as a use of force incident that causes death or serious injury has occurred.

#The civilian review board, similar to a model in use in Virginia Beach, wouldn’t review the serious cases that involved the auditor, but rather complaints of abuse of authority by police from citizens who are dissatisfied with the final determinations of police in other instances. The review board would then report to the Board of Supervisors.

Editorial: Move Forward with Independent Oversight

While FCPD has embraced many critical changes, supervisors need to move forward with oversight.

By Mary Kimm

#Last week, the Fairfax County Police Department posted a list and progress report of 202 recommendations made by the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission, each currently labeled as one of: implemented, in progress or under review.

#Recommendations that are under review “require more review or approval from the Board of Supervisors,” according to the update.

#Two landmark recommendations on independent oversight await further review and approval. One is the establishment of the Office of the Independent Auditor to review investigations of death or serious injury cases involving the FCPD; the other is to establish a Civilian Review Panel Civilian Review Panel to review complaints concerning alleged FCPD misconduct.

#The delay in moving forward with these two recommendations is a missed opportunity as the trial date for Adam Torres in the murder of John Geer approaches later this month, as the county will be under public scrutiny during coverage of the trial.

#Chairman Sharon Bulova established the police commission in response to public outcry over the shooting death of Geer by a Fairfax County police officer, later revealed to be Torres, and the delay and stonewalling in release of any information about the incident. Geer was killed in August 2013. It took 17 months, much agitation and a court order in response to a lawsuit on behalf of Geer’s family before the most basic information was released. In August 2015, Torres was charged with murder and ordered held without bond.

#The Public Safety Committee for the Board of Supervisors will meet in July to discuss all recommendations related to independent oversight. The next meeting of the Public Safety Committee is May 10 when they will take up commission recommendations related to use of force.

#Strategically, the establishment of Office of the Independent Auditor should have been one of the first actions as a result of the recommendations. The Civilian Review Panel should also be an early priority. Contact Bulova, Supervisor John Cook who is chairman of the Public Safety Committee, and your own supervisor, and ask them to move forward.

#Several pieces of good news: Fairfax County police leadership have embraced significant changes as a result of the commission recommendations and an independent report on use of force, changes that have already had major benefits in how police respond in crisis situations. Diversion First, a plan to provide treatment rather than jail for certain people in mental health crisis who come into contact with law enforcement is up and running, a remarkable achievement. Money has been allocated in the current budget to implement changes.

#The progress report is available 

Fairfax County Police investigate Fairfax County police .....and (wait for it )

               POLICE FIND POLICE INNOCENT OF ANY WRONG DOING

              How fast are these punks travelling in our cars on our roads?  

The cop who stuck and killed a man wasn't named....think the media would do that for you? Well think again.

Pedestrian Struck, Killed by Fairfax County Police Cruiser

in front of a Fairfax County, Virginia, police cruiser late Saturday night, police say.

Jeffrey Ponce Aguilar, 26, of Alexandria, Virginia, stepped into the roadway against the green light at Beulah Street near Old Beulah Street around 11 p.m. Saturday. A police car, driving north on Beulah Street, couldn’t stop in time and hit the man, police said.

"There was no reaction time for the officer based upon the weather conditions and dim lighting," said Fairfax County Chief of Police Edwin C. Roessler at a news conference.

Roessler said there was heavy rain at the time of the crash and Aguilar was wearing dark clothing.

The officer immediately stopped and requested an ambulance, police said. Aguilar was taken to Inova Franconia-Springfield HealthPlex with life-threatening injuries, where he died about 45 minutes later.

The officer, who has not been named, did not require medical attention.

Roessler said the department's crash reconstruction unit will investigate to determine if the crash was preventable. The Fairfax County Police Department Internal Affairs Bureau will also do a separate investigation to learn whether or not the officer complied with procedure.

"At this time we don't have any information if speeding or alcohol was a factor for the driver or the pedestrian," Roessler said. "Unfortunately, accidents do happen and it's a tragic loss of life here with Mr. Aguilar."

  

4 injured in Fairfax Co. school bus, police cruiser crash

SPRINGFIELD, Va. (AP) — Authorities say four people have been injured in a crash involving a police cruiser Fairfax County school bus that was carrying dozens of students.

Fairfax County police spokesman Sgt. Roger Henriquez says the crash happened around 12:45 p.m. Thursday in Springfield.

Police say a preliminary investigation shows the bus pulled in front of the officer's cruiser when the collision occurred.

Police say two students, a chaperone and the police officer were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

Queens man who severely beat off-duty sergeant says he fought back in self-defense after drunken cop threatened him

BY GRAHAM RAYMAN  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Hayden Holder claims off-duty cop started 2013 brawl that left him in jail waiting trial

An off-duty police sergeant severely pummeled by a Queens man in 2013 actually started the fight and he was extremely drunk, his blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

Now the man who delivered the beating hopes the revelations — based on witness interviews, newly released video and hospital records — shed new light on a criminal case that once appeared a slam dunk. But union leaders say that even if then-Sgt. Mohamed Deen started the fight, the physical response was so violent that any claim of self-defense disappeared in the midst of the street fight.

In November 2013, auto mechanic Hayden Holder decked Deen with one punch outside a gyro joint on Liberty Ave. in Ozone Park, Queens. Then Holder pounced on the cop, hitting him 11 more times in the pre-dawn hours. Deen, 42, had bleeding on the brain and needed surgery to repair broken bones in his face. He was in a medically induced coma for several days.

Police and prosecutors said Holder, 32, was trying to kill Deen. They said the attack came out of nowhere.

A video uploaded to YouTube shows Hayden Holder attacking Mohamed Deen in 2013. Holder claims that he was acting in self-defense.

A video uploaded to YouTube shows Hayden Holder attacking Mohamed Deen in 2013. Holder claims that he was acting in self-defense.

“It’s really hard to overstate the savageness of this attack,” prosecutor John Ruane said during Holder’s Nov. 18, 2013, arraignment, as cops packed the courtroom.

Holder, a mechanic with no prior criminal record, says Deen initiated the whole thing — first outside the Maracas nightclub on Jamaica Ave. in Richmond Hill, and then later about a mile south outside the Liberty Express gyro spot.

“I had no idea who this guy was, I had never seen him before,” Holder said. “I had no idea he was a cop.”

Indeed, security video from the nightclub shows that Deen suddenly walked up to Holder and became more and more enraged, ultimately ripping off his shirt and coming at Holder with his fists clenched and biceps bulging.

Holder's mother, Madonna Jagdeo — shown here with her husband, Patrick — said that their son was trying to hold himself back during the assault.

In November, 2013, auto mechanic Hayden Holder (pictured) decked then-Sgt. Muhamad Deen with one punch outside a gyro joint and then hit him as many as 11 more times in the pre-dawn hours on Liberty Ave. in Ozone Park.

Enlarge

Holder's mother, Madonna Jagdeo — shown here with her husband, Patrick — said that their son was trying to hold himself back during the brutal assault.

Bouncers pulled Deen away, but he tried to get at Holder twice more, before unsuccessfully lunging at him. The sergeant left when cops arrived.

Jamaica Hospital records show that Deen had a blood-alcohol level of .26. Even while off-duty, police officers are supposed to be fit for work, according to NYPD regulations.

Throughout most of the five-minute encounter captured on video, Holder had his arms behind his back and just stood there.

“He’s got his hands behind his back, and he’s trying avoid the man,” his stepfather Patrick Jagdeo, 45, said. “You can see it on the video.”

Holder and his friend, Bernard Joseph, 33, hung around briefly and then left to go to the Liberty Express gyro joint, which was one of the only restaurants open in the area at that hour.

“As we were walking to the car, we were like, ‘This is why we don’t come to clubs, because people don’t know how to handle their liquor,’" Joseph recalled.

Once there, Holder ordered two gyros for himself and Joseph, and bought sodas. As Holder walked back to the car, Deen pulled up, Joseph said.

As a result of the attack, Sgt. Mohamed Deen had to be put in a medically induced coma for several days. He had bleeding on the brain and needed surgery to repair broken bones in his face.

It may have been a random encounter, but Holder and his family believe Deen followed him there to confront him again.

“That’s where they meet, and Deen’s yelling at him and threatening him,” Joseph said.

Holder says he tried to walk away, but Deen threatened him, spit on him, and then pushed him once or twice.

“Deen walks fast back to his car like he’s going to get a baseball bat,” Joseph said. “Hayden walked right behind him, and blocked him from opening the door. Hayden is screaming, ‘Why did you push me!’”

Holder's lawyer contends that he was being pursued by Deen, who had a blood alcohol level of .26 at the time of the attack.

Holder, who had also been drinking, said Deen then took a swing at him. Holder then dropped Deen with a left.

As Holder kept punching Deen, some onlookers shouted, “Stop!” Others egged him on.

Holder said he doesn’t remember hitting Deen more than once, and admits he was drunk, too.

“He kept taunting and threatening me, he took a swing at me, and I guess I just lost it,” he said.

Holder's family saw their son's charges reduced after grand jury testimony in 2014, but lawyers for Deen say that Holder was no longer acting defensively when he continued his attack.

Holder said he doesn’t remember hitting Deen more than once, and admits he was drunk, too.

Holder's family saw their son's charges reduced after grand jury testimony in 2014, but lawyers for Deen say that Holder was no longer acting defensively when he continued his attack.

Holder testified in front of a grand jury. In March 2014, prosecutors reduced the charge against him from attempted murder to first-degree assault, which carries a sentence of up to 25 years. He’s been in jail for over two years without bail. His trial is scheduled to begin on April 29.

Holder grew up in Queens and went to Hillcrest High School, before working as a home health aide and as a mechanic at an AAMCO garage.

He could have a tough road in court. The video itself is damning enough, and the fact that he hit Deen so many times weakens any self-defense case. In addition, it’s going to be hard to convince a jury that he blacked out and can’t remember repeatedly hitting Deen.

Now retired from the 32nd Precinct in Washington Heights, Deen declined to comment. But Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said Holder’s claims don’t change the fact that he viciously beat Deen.

There’s a point in the video of no return,” Mullins said. “Once he continues to strike, he goes from being defensive to being offensive and that’s a crime. He had options.”

grayman@nydailynews.com

Commentary: Fairfax Supervisors’ Inaction on Police Commission Report

By John Lovaas/Reston Impact Producer/Host

#COMMUNITY NOTE: Reston Association election ballots must be returned for counting by COB Monday, April 4. There is only one real race—the At-Large seat. I suggest John Bowman, a person of integrity, knowledge and experience who cares about the community first. There is only one candidate for the other two posts. Both are excellent, not conflicted. Sherri Hebert is great, new blood for Lake Anne; Danielle La Rosa deserves a second term for North Point.

#Remember the Ad Hoc Commission to Review Police Practices created by Chairman Sharon Bulova after the 2013 police killing of unarmed John Geer and the outrage after two years of stonewalling by County Police and silence from the Board of Supervisors (BOS)? The 40-member Commission submitted its final report, with 142 unanimously adopted recommendations, to the BOS last October. In the five months since, the BOS has met just once to consider specific actions. It has agreed in principle to adopt the Report of the Commission, but not yet acted to initiate implementation of all its recommendations. The BOS just announced a second meeting planned for 10 a.m. on May 10 in Rooms 9/10 of the Fairfax County Gov’t. Center (Taj Mahal). Why the delay? In a recent Reston Forum on “Making Justice Work”, Supervisor Cathy Hudgins erroneously stated that the Board had in fact approved all recommendations, but additional careful consideration of implementation was required. She said the Board was “having a hard time organizing another meeting.”

#Meanwhile, the Washington Post sharply criticized the BOS for the delay and for preparing to undermine the Commission’s unanimous recommendation for oversight of police internal investigations by an independent auditor and for a Civilian Review Panel to receive citizen complaints about police abuses. In other words, it seems the delay may not be because the Supes can’t organize their own meeting, but because there are internal struggles going on over reform.

#Police organizations (would-be unions) whose reps (including Fairfax Coalition of Police President sitting across from me) voted for the Civilian Review Panel apparently are now trying to kill it. At the one BOS meeting held to date, the President of the Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 77, Brad Carruthers, told assembled Supervisors they should exercise caution in considering the recommendations since the whole Commission was only created because of complaints “from ten percent of the population who are anti-cops.” What!

#If reform is to be implemented and effect real change, independent oversight and civilian review advisory functions are indispensable for assuring the integrity of the changes. Experts stress the importance of independence of oversight. Although Police Chief Roessler and Chairman Bulova both say they support oversight and civilian review, the devil is likely in the details. Specifically, the more extreme voices are demanding that police be included on the Civilian Review Panel because only they truly understand the work of the police. In fact, we are where we are in Fairfax County today because there has been no oversight behind the steel blue curtain. A Civilian Review Panel is exactly that—civilian. It represents the community and provides an independent view. Let’s hope Chairman Bulova, Supervisor Hudgins and other Supervisors stand firm and are neither distracted nor intimidated from transforming the Fairfax County Police Department into a more responsive, topnotch force of which we all can be proud.  

Forget the headline, that’s not the real ethics problem in Fairfax County

www.statter911.com/

  Fairfax County Attorney David Bobzien, who showed how much of a priority ethics are in the county when his office helped engineer the cover-up after a police officer shot John Geer, has issued some new ethical guidelines for the board of supervisors.

Because of new state gift standards adopted after the scandal involving former Governor Bob McDonnell, Bobzien believes supervisors should no longer accept free passes to county facilities, including golf memberships and fitness passes.

That’s interesting and may be a good idea. But the article by Anthony Olivo also illustrates much more important issues related to ethics that Fairfax County continues to ignore – transparency and accountability. When transparency and accountability are absent, your ethics will almost always be questioned.

Bobzien himself is a great illustration of the accountability problem. It’s ridiculous that he’s still employed by Fairfax County, after the Geer debacle. Failing to hold the top officials accountable who engineered a plan to withhold key information about that case from the public, prosecutors, Geer’s family and a U.S. senator, should be a major embarrassment for our elected officials. Unfortunately, it isn’t.

Now, you have the laughable situation of Bobzien setting ethics policy. This is just as comical as the board of supervisors expecting the police department leadership responsible for the Geer cover-up to now “change the culture” to prevent a Geer type situation in the future. What Chairman Sharon Bulova and the other supervisors have consistently refused to admit is that these leaders are the “culture” that needs changing.

The article also shows at least three great examples of the failure by Bulova and company to embrace transparency. Just read this paragraph:

Bobzien declined to discuss the county’s policy change, and the county park authority would not say which other Fairfax officials are given free passes and whether they will continue to receive them.

Bobzien has such contempt for the citizens, he’s unwilling to explain to a reporter anything about this policy change.

Then, the park authority says “screw you” to all of us who pay their salaries when asked a question that should be easily answered. No one should have to jump through hoops to get that kind of information.

Sadly, these are not isolated examples and remain the standard operating procedure in Fairfax County. Bulova created a commission and claimed multiple times that lessons were learned from the two-year embarrassment following John Geer’s killing. If lessons were learned, they were quickly forgotten. More likely, lessons weren’t learned at all and it was just lip service during an election year.

If the board of supervisors was at all serious about change they would have immediately adopted important, no-cost, policies put forth by the communications subcommittee of the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission (Full disclosure: I was appointed to that commission by Sharon Bulova and helped write the communications report — The following sentence in Olivo’s article convinces me that the board of supervisors has no intention of changing the status quo when it comes to ethics and the related issues of accountability and transparency:

Supervisor Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason), in office since 1996, would not say whether she has ever used her parks pass.

How can we even expect the county attorney, the leadership of the park authority, those in charge of the police department, or any other Fairfax County officials to be responsive to the citizens if the supervisors themselves don’t think it’s important?

What possible reason does Penny Gross have for not telling us if she used her parks pass? Where is Penny’s accountability? Where is the transparency in government when an elected official shows such contempt for the concept?

Penny is my representative on the board of supervisors and I have known her for years and actually like her. I personally don’t care if she used the free parks pass. It’s not that important of an issue and wouldn’t think less of her, even if she used it every day of the week. But I care greatly that Penny Gross won’t say if she used that pass. And everyone else who lives in Fairfax County should care too.

Evidence: Cop Charged With Murder Consumed by Marital Woes

BY MATTHEW BARAKAT

A police officer charged with murder for shooting a man during a 2013 domestic standoff questioned himself about whether he acted out of anger over his own deteriorating marriage, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Adam Torres, a former Fairfax County police officer, is scheduled to go on trial for murder April 18 in the August 2013 shooting death of John Geer, 46, of Springfield. Officers had been called to Geer's home because of a domestic dispute. Torres shot Geer after a 45-minute standoff. Witnesses, including other officers, said Geer was unarmed with his hands up when he was shot. Torres told investigators he thought Geer might have a weapon hidden in his waistband, and was concerned Geer might reach for a gun he had previously set at his feet.

At a pretrial hearing Thursday, defense attorneys sought to suppress numerous statements Torres made to other officers before and after the shooting about his anger over his marriage and his concerns that his wife was cheating on him. On three different days in the year leading up to the shooting, either Torres or his supervisors decided he was emotionally unfit to work because of his distress over his marital woes, prosecutor Robert McClain said.

On the day of the shooting, Torres had been arguing with his wife on the phone for 15 minutes immediately before reporting to the standoff at the Geer home. Within a minute or two of firing the shot, he told another officer out of the blue, "I had a fight with my wife."

A few days later, when detectives asked Torres why he brought that up, Torres responded that he wondered "for a split second" whether he fired out of anger but quickly concluded in his own mind the shooting was justified, according to a transcript of the interrogation.

Defense lawyers argued that the statements were irrelevant, unfairly prejudicial to their client, and should not be used against him because he felt compelled to speak to supervisors to keep his job.

Prosecutors said the statements were relevant to establish Torres' state of mind, and said Torres made the statements voluntarily.

Judge Robert Smith ruled that the statements made immediately after the shooting and in the days after are admissible. But he ruled that two discussions Torres had with his supervisor in September 2012 were too far removed from the actual shooting to be relevant. He withheld judgment on a statement Torres made a month before the shooting that he needed to take a sick day because he was "fed up with everything."

While Geer was killed in 2013, Torres was not indicted until 2015. The two-year delay led to allegations that Fairfax County was stonewalling the investigation. Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh said the county's own lawyers refused to provide internal police documents he needed to conduct his investigation until a federal court, a civil lawsuit and an inquiry from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, prodded the county to relent.