Volusia Co FL sheriff’s lieutenant demoted for having coworkers help him cheat on college coursework [0] thesent.nl/wUYlan
Fairfax County Cops
dumb cop 101
Spartanburg Co SC deputy accidentally shoots a fellow deputy’s wife while teaching a concealed weapons permit class. He apparently didn’t check to see if a round was chambered when he was showing one attendee how to handle her firearm. [0] bit.ly/yJZRKT
dumb cop 101
Maricopa Co AZ deputy investigated for unspecified conduct that dismissed 2 cases, details about what he did that caused prosecutors to drop these cases are being kept a secret thanks to a new state law that keeps details about police misconduct a secret until the officers involved have exhausted each and every appeal process, which can take years and can often result in cover ups by departments not eager to let the public know about misdeeds. [4] bit.ly/xG9k2X
Roxbury Man Demands Answers About Alleged Police Brutality
February 16, 2012 9:13 PM
BOSTON (CBS) – A Roxbury couple is demanding answers about a case of alleged police brutality.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Bernice Corpuz reports
Donovan Walker, who is a street worker with the StreetSafe Boston initiative, says his encounter with the Boston Police last year has left him feeling unsafe.
“The peaceful tranquility of my home has been stolen by the Boston Police,” Walker told reporters Thursday.
Several fake 911 calls led police to his home on Burton Avenue, where someone reported a dead body and an armed man. He and his wife Nancy allowed two officers to check their apartment, but they claim a third officer forced his way in.
Donovan fell to the floor and said he was kicked in the head. He says, “The incident left me paralyzed for four and a half hours.”
Now a year later, they say no one has been held responsible.
Boston Police have not responded to a request to comment.
Meriden police officer claims retaliation
MERIDEN - One of the officers alleging widespread favoritism and misconduct in the police department has notified the city that he plans to sue various members of the police department, Personnel Director Caroline Beitman and the police union over alleged harassment and retaliation against him.
In late March, officers Donald Huston and Brian Sullivan requested an investigation into allegations that certain officers, including Evan Cossette - the son of Police Chief Jeffry Cossette - were being inadequately disciplined for misconduct, including police brutality.
In the notice, filed by Attorney Frank P. Cannatelli of Wallingford on Huston's behalf, Huston claims that members of the department have created a hostile atmosphere, lodged false Internal Affairs claims against him and asked officers to withhold evidence that would support his allegations.
"They have used the police Internal Affairs Division to hurt Huston and other officers who have cooperated with official investigations, and have created a corrupt Internal Affairs Division that acts based upon favoritism, and nepotism," it reads.
The notice names Beitman, Jeffry and Evan Cossette, Deputy Chief Timothy Topulos, Capt. Michael Zakrzewski, former internal affairs officers Sgt. Leonard Caponigro and Lt. Glen Milslagle, police union President Det. Michael Siegler and chief union steward Det. John Williams.
Siegler, the union's president, said Huston was "a very desperate person."
"The investigation is coming to an end and he knows the outcome will not show what he claimed, therefore he's grasping at straws," Siegler said via email. "I hope the city doesn't settle this. They need to follow through and make him prove these false allegations. He's done enough damage here, he needs to move on."
The notice alleges various violations under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, including obstruction of justice, tampering with witnesses and "retaliation for cooperating with authorities to correct illegal police conduct."
Huston claims the police union instructed officers not to cooperate with investigations into incidents involving Pedro Temich and Robert Methvin, both of whom have filed federal lawsuits against Evan Cossette for allegedly beating them during arrests in 2010.
Numerous internal affairs complaints have been filed against Huston and Sullivan since their allegations became public last year, most of which have claimed they were untruthful or negligent in their duties as officers. Many of those complaints were filed after Williams, the union's chief steward, sent an email to members urging them to combat Huston and Sullivan's claims through internal affairs.
Williams also filed several grievances with the city claiming Huston and Sullivan were receiving preferential treatment in the wake of their allegations.
Associate City Attorney Jack Gorman said the city does not comment on pending litigation, but said he found it difficult to distinguish how the notice of intent to sue differed from the charges Huston made in his letter to the city last year.
"It makes a lot of broad general allegations. It's hard to perceive what he's alleging beyond things that he's already raised his complaints with," he said.
Cannatelli said Wednesday that he will file two more notices of pending suits against the city and the police department on behalf of two other officers over the next week, but would not identify the officers. He also said he plans to file a complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities on behalf of all three officers.
Prior to the new notice, Huston had been represented by New Britain attorney Sally A. Roberts, who is still serving as his counsel in a defamation of character suit against Chief Cossette. Roberts is also representing Temich, Methvin and Joseph Bryans, another man alleging he was brutalized by Evan Cossette, in federal lawsuits against the city and department.
Huston and the other parties named in the notice either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
Basically Rohr did everything but bitch slap the board of supervisors. Is it any wonder the cops have such contempt for the citizens?
Awaiting Advice
Long-awaited recommendation on citizen review board for police expected this month.
By Michael Lee Pope
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Advocates for a citizen review board to the Fairfax County Police Department have been waiting more than a year for some kind of action on their request. Now, finally, their day has arrived. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get the answer they asked for or what they want.
Later this month, County Executive Anthony Griffin will present his recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. His presentation will include a series of options Police Chief David Rohr forwarded to the county executive last week, although county and police officials have declined to share any details from the secret memorandum.
"The conversations I’ve had with the county executive seem to indicate that he is going to recommend some kind of review process," said Mount Vernon Supervisor Gerry Hyland. "I think in all likelihood we will come out of this with some kind of process to handle the issues that have been raised."
The push for a citizen review board to the police department began in February 2010, shortly after Fairfax County Police Officer David Ziants shot and killed an unarmed driver on Richmond Highway. Police officials failed to release the incident report or the dashboard video footage of the incident, even when the information was requested in a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request. That led retired D.C. detective Nicholas Beltrante to begin advocating for a citizen-led review board that would be able to investigate complaints against the police.
"Citizens should have the opportunity to investigate these matters," Beltrante said in a March 2010 interview. "But the way things work now, the process is biased in favor of the police and citizens don’t have any input."
THE MOVEMENT WAS SLOW to catch on, and it received some early resistance. When Beltrante approached the Public Safety Committee of the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens’ Associations, the panel declined to even consider the issues. And Hyland interpreted the lack of interest among members of the council as an indication that the effort had scant community support.
"We’ve already got a lot of commissions, and most of them just end up making paper," said Dallas Shawkey, chairman of the Public Safety Committee of the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens’ Associations. "If someone feels they’ve been wronged, they can file a civil complaint."
But Beltrante was not alone. In May, he and others who were concerned about a lack of oversight at the Fairfax County Police Department formed the Citizens Coalition for Police Accountability. Central to the mission of the coalition was the effort to advocate for a citizen review board, a concept which has been endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.
"The problem is that there’s a lot of police misconduct in Fairfax County," said Shirley Stewart, a member of the Fairfax NAACP. "And it’s getting swept under the rug."
IN A CLOSED EXECUTIVE session last year on May 25, members of the Board of Supervisors discussed the issue with Chief Rohrer. According to Chairwoman Sharon Bulova, the meeting concluded with the chief agreeing to consider a process for community discussion on how such a review mechanism might be structured. The chief promised to return with some models and strategies as well as a timeline for engaging the community.
"I think it would be helpful to assure ourselves and either confirm that the right decision was made or to be able to go back and correct something that may not have gone as well as it should have," Bulova said in October.
Since that time, it’s been a waiting game. Supporters of the citizen review board have been eagerly anticipating the police chief’s recommendation. In December, police officials decided they would not be making a public recommendation. Instead, the chief of police would make a secret report to the county executive, who would then make a final recommendation to members of the Board of Supervisors.
"The Police Department is just one of many stakeholders in this issue and the recommendation will come from the county, not the police chief," said police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings in a December e-mail. "That will happen after all the discussions and considerations are complete."
NOW, AFTER MORE than a year of waiting, the county is finally ready to move forward with a recommendation. But it’s unclear what kind of research has been conducted by county officials in advance of the March 29 meeting. For example, leaders of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement say they have never been contacted by anyone from the police department or county government.
"Maybe they are getting solid advice from people outside the citizen oversight world," said Phillip Eure, immediate past president of the association. "It’s not at all clear to me that Fairfax County officials have consulted with the people who are most knowledgeable about police review boards, although we remain ready, willing and able to help them at any time."
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