California
Police Abuse and Police Brutality
Page 2
12/27/2005
- A police
officer pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he forced himself on
an 18-year-old woman while on duty, authorities said.
Officer Michael
Turkington, 35, is facing four felony counts of false imprisonment,
forced oral copulation, furnishing marijuana and committing the acts
while on duty, the San Francisco district attorney's office said. He
was arraigned in San Francisco Superior Court on Friday after being
arrested earlier this week at his home in San Mateo.
The
judge reduced bail from $500,000 to $150,000 and ordered Turkington to
sign a protective order requiring him to stay away from his accuser.
===============
12/27/2005 - A
member
of the Sonoma County Sheriff Department's bomb squad is been charged
with grand theft auto, perjury and other charges.
Lt.
Roger Rude
said the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office is filing the charges
against 34-year-old Marcus Parker but the Marin County District
Attorney's Office will handle the criminal prosecution of the case.
Rude
said the
Department of Motor Vehicles investigated transactions involving Parker
and the sale of an automobile and that the sheriff's department had
been aware of the investigation since June. Parker has been placed on
paid administrative leave and an internal investigation also will be
conducted, Rude said.
Officer Parker
was hired by the sheriff's department on Jan. 26, 1996 and formerly
worked as a Santa Rosa Junior College police officer. He was assigned
full time to the bomb squad on Jan. 4, 2005. Rude said the incident is
a personnel matter and the sheriff's department cannot comment further.
He
is charged
with vehicle theft, grand theft auto, perjury, possession of a stolen
vehicle and grand theft in excess of $400. The alleged theft occurred
on June 8, 2004 and reportedly involved a car Parker sold, repossessed
and tried to trade in for another vehicle.
Parker was arrested Dec. 16 and is out of custody
on his own recognizance.
=============
8/19/04 - SAN DIEGO Calling the
defendant a "danger" to the public, a judge Thursday refused to lower
the $1 million bail for a veteran San Diego police officer accused of
buying stolen property from thieves and selling it on eBay.
Officer James Estrella, 45, and his wife, Ruthy,
35, are both charged with eight counts of receiving stolen property.
Deputy District Attorney Garry Haehnle
said $200,000 in stolen merchandise was seized when officers searched
the couple's Chula Vista warehouse following their arrests.
Haehnle argued that James Estrella was a flight
risk because he and his wife have an embroidery business in the
Philippines.
The police officer was convicted of
misdemeanor disturbing the peace for grabbing a person by the throat at
an auction after the victim criticized the defendant's online business,
Haehnle said.
Judge Browder Willis said citizens deserve to be
protected from allegedly corrupt sworn peace officers.
"I find that he's a danger to the public," the
judge said.
Defense attorney Kerry Armstrong said
James Estrella was a Marine Corps drill instructor, youth basketball
coach and had worked for 15 years at the San Diego Police Department.
*******
May 7, 2002 - A Sacramento
police
officer was arrested and charged Monday with raping a 16-year-old girl
and sexually assaulting five other young women while on duty.
Darryl George Rosen, 26, was arrested
about 3:30 p.m. at the department's internal affairs office following a
five-month investigation, announced Chief Arturo Venegas Jr.
"This reflects upon the badge, the honor and the
trust bestowed on us by the community," a grim Venegas said.
An arrest warrant issued by the
Sacramento County District Attorney's Office charged Rosen with one
count of rape, four counts of sexual battery, and eight counts of
assault by a public officer, all felonies; and one count of sexual
battery and three counts of false imprisonment, all misdemeanors.
Rosen, who lives in Lincoln, is
accused of attacking the victims while responding to police calls.
Police officials say the attacks occurred between fall 2000 and
December 2001. Rosen was suspended with pay in December.
The victims told officers that Rosen
was in uniform and alone when he contacted them while responding to
calls or checking suspicious activity, said Capt. Mike McCarthy, head
of investigations.
Some of the women were arrested by
Rosen after the assaults for unspecified crimes, while others were let
go, McCarthy said, adding that Rosen had visited some of the victims
more than once.
The officer never threatened the
women if they told of the alleged sexual contact, but "the uniform was
enough of a threat," Venegas said.
Rosen was booked into the Sacramento
County jail and was being held without bail. Authorities said he could
face 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
The department would not release
details of the criminal investigation because it involved alleged
sexual assaults and because the department is bound by privacy issues
relating to employees.
McCarthy said the investigation began
Dec. 14, when the department's internal affairs division was told by
someone connected to the 16-year-old that she had been raped by the
officer while in his custody.
At the time, Rosen patrolled the
north area of the city during the graveyard shift, McCarthy said. He
was hired in December 1996 and spent one year working as a community
service officer before being sworn in as a patrol officer.
McCarthy said the department launched
the investigation quickly to monitor the officer's activity as well as
find potential witnesses and to determine if other police officers were
involved.
The investigation into the
16-year-old's claims was still developing when another patrol officer,
who knew nothing of the ongoing probe, reported hearing of another
possible victim. His information was given to the internal affairs
division, McCarthy said.
With evidence in two possible cases,
Rosen was suspended Dec. 28, two weeks after the initial report, and
placed on paid administrative leave.
He was still on paid leave as of Monday, Venegas
said.
"That is part of the process we have to follow,"
the chief said. The department is recommending his termination.
Rosen is married and grew up in
Roseville. His parents and other family members also are in law
enforcement. No one at his home was willing to comment.
After Rosen was placed on leave,
Venegas ordered investigators to look "as far back as possible" into
all the calls he had answered to search for more victims. That
investigation produced four more women who never reported the assaults
until they were contacted by police, McCarthy said, although officers
were unable to find everyone they searched for.
********
05/16/05 - California - A
former
San Jose police officer was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday
for what the cases prosecutor called a disgusting crime, molesting his
11-month-old daughter.
Stephen Gallagher, 49, received the
sentence from Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Ronald Lisk.
Prosecutor James Gibbons-Shapiro had sought the maximum term, 10 years
in prison.
This crime is unbelievably serious,
Gibbons-Shapiro said. ôHe had this child orally copulate him.
There
cannot be a more disgusting crime that I can think of.
Gallagher, a 22-year veteran of the
San Jose Police Department, was arrested on Feb. 2 after the childs
mother reported the incident she had recorded the night before.
The mother had installed a hidden
video camera, commonly known as a nanny cam, in the room where
Gallagher was watching their daughter because she believed he might
have been drinking around the toddler, according to court documents.
Gallagher pleaded guilty on Feb. 9.
The childs mother addressed the court
today, saying she never wanted to have any contact with Gallagher
again, according to Gibbons-Shapiro.
******
A commissioner will be
assigned to
hear the case and decide on appropriate discipline. The issue of cops
drinking and driving has been prevalent in recent weeks. Only last
week, the commission heard that Officer Gary Hazelhofer of the Mission
District allegedly drove his truck along a highway with a blood-alcohol
reading of 0.10, with a handgun in the vehicle.
Also facing drunk-driving charges is
Officer Robert Ramos, a Richmond District cop who CHP officers allege
drove erratically and registered a blood-alcohol reading of 0.17, then
on a second testing, 0.15.
*****
10/20/04 - California - While with
the LAPD, Ruben Palomares led a crew of law enforcement cohorts in a
crime spree that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A former Los Angeles police officer
has admitted to federal authorities that he and a group of fellow area
law enforcement officers conducted a string of brazen armed robberies
across Southern California staged to look like legitimate law
enforcement raids.
Ruben Palomares, 34, and his cohorts
stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs, cash, guns and
other items over a nearly four-year period beginning in 1998, according
to a plea agreement and related documents filed Tuesday. The one-time
Rampart Division officer has agreed to plead guilty to a potential life
sentence in connection with the crime spree and to cooperate with
authorities.
The documents provide new details
about Palomares' criminal enterprise, which has been the subject of an
ongoing federal investigation since he was caught buying 10 kilograms
of cocaine from undercover DEA agents three years ago.
Palomares and his band wore police
uniforms and badges during many of the robberies. They would use LAPD
squad cars and unmarked police vehicles during the heists, court
documents show.
Some of the armed robberies turned
brutally violent. At least two men were shot with stun guns during the
robberies. Another man was beaten with a police baton, had a gun shoved
in his mouth and was burned with a lighter, according to the documents.
The crew's crime spree yielded more
than 700 pounds of marijuana and 50 kilos of cocaine, which Palomares'
crew then sold for profit, the court papers state. In addition, the
crew stole cars, money and an assortment of firearms and jewelry.
In one particularly bold robbery, crew
members identified themselves as cops as they commandeered television
sets from the back of semi truck on a street in Montebello, the
documents show.
According to court papers, Palomares'
network of thieves used law enforcement tactics during their robberies.
Some crew members were assigned surveillance duties, looking out for
police and potential witnesses. Other members dubbed the "entry team"
would burst into locations. Victims were often handcuffed as the
bandits looked for drugs and money.
As part of his plea deal, Palomares
is required to cooperate with all aspects of the government's ongoing
investigation. Palomares has no incentive to lie in his statements to
authorities. The only possible way for him to earn a reduction in his
life sentence is for prosecutors to determine that he has been truthful
and to certify that he has provided "substantial assistance" to the
investigation.
Even before Palomares agreed to
cooperate, investigators had been able to verify many of the group's
criminal acts through other means.
Palomares and five others were
active-duty law enforcement officers at the time, court documents show.
Two were members of the LAPD. One of them was fired for unrelated
misconduct; the other has since resigned.
Two others were Long Beach police
officers who remain on the force, although they have been assigned desk
duties pending the outcome of the federal investigation. The fifth was
a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who now works as a prison guard.
He remains on the job with no restrictions at the
California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.
Other members included Palomares'
friends and relatives, according to sources familiar with the case. One
participant was a professional female boxer.
Authorities believe there were about
20 members in all. Palomares' wife, also an LAPD officer, has not been
implicated in any direct involvement with the ring but is suspected of
knowing about its activities, according to the sources.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien, the lead
prosecutor on the case, declined comment.
Winston Kevin McKesson, Palomares'
lawyer, said the former officer has become a born-again Christian since
his arrest and is trying to make amends for his misdeeds.
"He's decided to step forward and try
to see that justice is done," said McKesson, who also represented
Rafael Perez, the LAPD officer who launched the Rampart scandal in
1999. "He's trying to get right with God."
Palomares, a former Golden Gloves
boxer who sparred with such fighters as Oscar De La Hoya and Shane
Mosley, joined the LAPD in 1993. Because of his youthful appearance, he
was assigned to a juvenile narcotics unit where he investigated drug
use in high schools. He later transferred to the Rampart Division,
where he continued to work in narcotics.
Allegations of corruption against
Palomares first surfaced in 1999 during the Rampart scandal when Perez
told detectives that Palomares once intimated that he had been involved
in an unjustified shooting and covered it up.
"I would look at everything Palomares
has done, every arrest that he's made, and scrutinize it very
carefully," Perez told investigators.
Palomares was never criminally charged in the
Rampart scandal.
In fact, court documents show, the
height of Palomares' criminal activity was during the same time he was
under investigation by the LAPD.
Palomares' criminal rampage ended
June 8, 2001, when he and four other men were arrested in San Diego in
a cocaine sting by DEA agents. One of the men arrested that day
immediately began cooperating with authorities, alleging that Palomares
was the leader of a gang that conducted invasion-style robberies of
drug dealers, sometimes dressed as cops.
Palomares pleaded guilty to the San
Diego drug charges last year and was sentenced to 15 years in federal
prison. Since his arrest, a team of FBI agents and LAPD detectives has
been attempting to piece together the extent of his criminal activity.
The investigation is not limited to
off-duty crimes. Investigators have also been looking into a 1999
police shooting by former LAPD police Officer William Ferguson, who
authorities believe was a member of Palomares' crew. Ferguson's
attorney declined comment.
Also under investigation is a
December 2000 killing in Huntington Park, in which several crew
members, including Palomares, allegedly attacked a man after an
argument at a restaurant.
At his sentencing last year,
Palomares said he was remorseful about his life of crime. He said he
had started abusing alcohol and pain pills after a shoulder injury
forced him go on disability at the LAPD. He started committing
robberies, he said, because he desperately needed money to provide for
his five young children.
"I made the worst mistake of my life,"
Palomares said at the time. "I turned away from everything I knew to be
true and steadfast, a decision I will regret every day for the rest of
my life."
Former LAPD police Officer Ruben
Palomares has agreed to plead guilty to a string of armed robberies and
other crimes committed across Southern California between 1998 and 2001.
*************
October 14, 2004 - Deputy Matthew
Simon was arrested and charged with one misdemeanor count of
being
under the influence of a controlled substance.
In a report, a witness claims the
21-year-old Simon was seen taking various types of powerful
prescription drugs on numerous occasions in the Buttonwillow area, and
at times, offering those drugs to other youngadults and teenagers.
Sheriff's officials disclosed very few details
during a press conference Thursday.
Investigators say they were notified in late August
of the allegations.
The witness claims that Simon gave
drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, methadone and morphine to a family
member and friends on several occasions over several months.
Simon was ordered to surrender his gun and his
badge, and he was placed on administrative leave during the
investigation.
A urine test that was taken as Simon was reporting
for duty on Sept. 5 came back positive for morphine.
Simon is the son of Sgt. Norm Simon, a veteran of
the sheriff's department for almost 30 years.
****
10/20/04 - Peter J. Risk
admitted
he repeatedly lied to doctors for years to get illicit prescriptions
for thousands of Vicodin pills. But Risk was a cop, albeit now a
disgraced cop, who spent the last four years of his 22 years on the job
for the Vallejo Police Department struggling with pain from multiple
work-related injuries and subsequent surgeries.
Risk, who got caught up in a 2002 Drug
Enforcement Agency investigation, was convicted by a jury in July of
five felony charges of obtaining narcotics through false pretenses and
two charges relating to the theft of a fellow officer's wallet and
cellular telephone.
Before Judge Garry T. Ichikawa
sentenced risk to two months behind bars, Risk's lawyer, Daniel Russo,
tried to argue Risk's drug addiction was unusual.
"He was using drugs to get through the
pain, not to get high. He was using so he could go to work," Russo
said. Russo also said Risk lost his home and much of his cop's pension
because of the felonies and that police officials were still disputing
whether Risk was entitled to a disability pension and workers
compensation coverage for future surgeries.
Deputy District Attorney Michael
Mullins had a different perspective than Russo, arguing Risk had
brought disgrace to the Vallejo Police Department.
****
April 6th, 2005
- COLUSA, Calif. --
A Colusa County jury deliberated 35 minutes before convicting a
Washington man of ambushing and killing a Red Bluff policeman in Nov.
2002.
Andrew Hampton Mickel, 26, of Olympia, Wash. had
admitted to the killing during the trial.
Mickel, who acted as his own attorney,
told jurors before they began deliberations Tuesday, that ''you would
have to be fools to find me innocent. I would find me guilty.''
Mickel said on the first day of the
two-week trial that he shot and killed David Mobilio, 31, while the
patrol officer refueled his cruiser at a Red Bluff gasoline station.
Mickel, also known as Andrew McCrae,
said after the killing that he shot Mobilio to make a political
statement against police brutality, but a judge refused to allow him to
use it as a defense. Mickel had also claimed corporate immunity from
prosecution because he formed a corporation named ''Proud and Insolent
Youth.''
************
July 9th, 2004 -
PASADENA, Calif.
-- A police training officer was placed on leave while officials
consider disciplinary action over allegations that he tried to arrange
a fight between a prisoner and a police trainee, a newspaper reported
Thursday.
David Llanes, 36, was put on paid administrative
leave while the police chief decides his fate, the Pasadena Star-News
said.
Llanes could not be reached by The Associated
Press. He declined comment when contacted by the newspaper.
Llanes allegedly bet Evans $20 that Robinson would
win if the two fought, the ewspaper said.
Evans and Llanes agreed that the
suspect's handcuffs would be removed, and he would face no additional
charges for anything that happened during the fight, according to
Robinson.
The three men went into a booking
cell, where Llanes allegedly broke procedure by removing handcuffs from
Evans. Robinson said the fight was about to begin when Evans changed
his mind.
********
May 03, 2004 - OAKLAND -- The judge
assigned to preside over the retrial of three former Oakland police
officers accused of being law-breaking "Riders" was switched last week
to allay defense concerns that the first jurist chosen might be biased
against one of the accused men.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge
Jeffrey Horner was assigned to preside over the locally infamous police
misconduct case after defense attorney William Rapoport expressed
concern that Judge Jon Rolefson might have a jaded view of Jude Siapno.
Rapoport declined to expand on the
reasoning following an afternoon hearing in which Judge Thomas Reardon
switched the Riders retrial to Horner's courtroom on the seventh floor
of the Rene Davidson Courthouse in Oakland. Rapoport would only say the
decision came after discussions with 35-year-old Siapno and attorneys
representing 32-year-old Matthew Hornung and 38-year-old Clarence
Mabanag.
Siapno, Mabanag and Hornung face a
combined 15 felony criminal counts, most accusing the trio of
falsifying police reports in summer 2000 to justify drug arrests or
explain injuries to suspects.
An overall count charges the former
officers of conspiring to "pervert or obstruct justice" by joining
together in rogue tacticsthat included lying about seeing people toss
away crack cocaine.
********
October 13, 1999 - Angeles Police
Department officers in a shooting for which he spent three years in
prison, has filed a lawsuit in California State court.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday against
police officers involved in the shooting, the City of Los Angeles, and
LAPD Police Chief Bernard Parks, among others, seeks unspecified
punitive and compensatory damages.
Ovando's attorney, Gregory Moreno,
says the suit seeks damages for the "false arrest, the wrongful
shooting, the violation of Mr. Ovando's constitutional rights for [the
officers] having intentionally shot him, attempting to kill
him...murder him...After shooting him in the body, they actually shot
him in the head, which left him mentally and physically incapacitated."
Ovando, 22, was freed from prison
last month after a jailed ex-police officer, Rafael Perez, told
prosecutors he and his partner framed Ovando by planting a gun on him
in a shooting which left Ovando paralyzed from the waist down and sent
him to prison for a crime he apparently did not commit.
**************
07/09/2005 - CALIFORNIA --
A 36-year-old officer assigned to the Police Department's youth program
was arrested for allegedly molesting a 15-year-old boy, authorities
said Friday.
George Stan was arrested Wednesday at Los Angeles
International Airport while returning from a vacation, a police
statement said. He was held on $2.5 million bail in Simi Valley, where
the molestation allegedly occurred.
An LAPD spokeswoman referred
questions about charges and Stan's arraignment to the Ventura County
district attorney's office. The prosecutor assigned to sex crimes there
did not return a call seeking comment.
Stan had been assigned
to the Devonshire station since 1991 and had been working with the
department's Explorer program for youth for about a year. It was
unclear whether the alleged victim was a member of the program, but
police believe there may be other victims.
The investigation
began after a minor told LAPD officials in January of "inappropriate
Internet communications by Stan," the department said. Investigators
found that Stan had engaged in multiple sex acts with a 15-year-old
boy, the LAPD said.
*************
07/09/2005 - CALIFORNIA --
A former San Diego police officer pleaded guilty to a felony charge of
using a minor to manufacture child pornography and three misdemeanor
counts of possessing child pornography, it was announced Wednesday.
Officer
Brett Kenneth Hensley, 36, will be sentenced Sept. 15 in San Diego
Superior Court. He faces a maximum of three years in prison. Hensley
voluntarily surrendered on Jan. 18 following the execution of a search
warrant at his home and job 11 months earlier by U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement and San Diego police officers.
A forensic
review of Hensley's computers revealed numerous images of child
pornography and e-mail messages indicating he was communicating with
girls and posing as a minor, ICE officials said. After further
investigation, agents discovered that Hensley had solicited photos and
phone sex with young females, authorities said.
One victim, who
lives out of state, told agents that Hensley solicited phone sex with
her over the Internet and requested that she e-mail him sexually
explicit photos of herself, ICE said.
The investigation into
Hensley grew out of an ongoing ICE investigation into an Internet
billing company in Minsk, Belarus. In January 2004, the company was
charged with money laundering and providing credit card billing
services for 50 child pornography Web sites worldwide and operating
child pornography Web sites of its own, authorities said.
######UPDATE:
Pervert officer Brett Kenneth Hensley is only given five years'
probation. The judge must love child molesters to only give this
pervert only probation. You people in San Diego ought to be
outraged
that your judges give light sentences to police officers that break the
law.
Also someone at
Channel 7, the NBC affiliate in San Diego must be related to this
pervert or doesn't give a rats ass if cops have porn pictures of
children. Station KNSD of San Diego, refused to show the
officers face
on t.v., instead the "blurred" out his face, so that the public
wouldn't recognized him. KNSD must care alot more about police officers
that are perverts, then informing the community of what this criminal
looks like. Shame on you NBC, shame on you KNSD!
**************
07/08/2005 - CALIFORNIA --
When veteran SanDiego police Officer Phillip Bozarth shot and killed a
24-year-old man with a handgun in a Stockton neighborhood June 25, it
marked the fifth person he has killed on the job in his 20-year career,
police confirmed yesterday.
June 25, it marked
the fifth person he has killed on the job in his 20-year career, police
confirmed yesterday.
The four other
shootings were ruled legal and justified --
and the latest involving the death of Ricardo Morales Carbajal remains
under investigation. But the number of fatal incidents involving
Bozarth, as with any officer-involved shooting, has raised concern.
Despite being what
some might consider a cowboy cop,
San Diego police officials call Bozarth one of the department's best
police officers, citing his strong work ethic and the numerous awards
and citations to his credit.
Bozarth, 42, is a respected field
training officer and works the front lines, usually in high-crime
areas, his colleagues say. After the latest incident, Bozarth was
assigned to administrative duties.
"He is an excellent and
tenacious officer, a compassionate, caring man with a stellar record
and a strong work ethic," said Executive Assistant Chief Bill Maheu.
"He really loves and respects the community he serves."
Maheu
also praised Bozarth's tactical work as an officer. With that said,
Maheu added that the department has concerns after any officer-involved
shooting, first and foremost to determine whether the use of deadly
force was reasonable under the circumstances. (Maheu would not comment
on the latest shooting because it remains under review.)
Officers
who fire their weapons also go through a psychological evaluation.
Internal affairs, homicide and field training officials analyze the
actions that led to the shooting and whether anything could have been
done differently.
Maheu said Bozarth passed those benchmarks
and "functioned very well" after each of the four other fatal
shootings, always returning to patrol work.
Maheu added that in
separate recent incidents, Bozarth disarmed a man wielding a loaded,
AR-15-type rifle and another with a loaded 9 mm pistol --
both without firing his weapon or causing injuries.
*********
January 24th, 2005 - Three Menlo Park police officers are expected in
San Mateo County court today to face a civil lawsuit alleging they used
excessive force in a December 2000 arrest, then lied in police reports
to cover up their actions.
The plaintiff,
56-year-old David Alan McBay, already has won a non-binding arbitration
hearing against the city, which declined to pay the $29,500 awarded to
McBay and instead take the case to trial.
San Mateo County
prosecutors in 2001 dismissed a criminal case against McBay stemming
from the arrest after a jury deadlocked 9-3 in his favor.
McBay claims in
his suit that the three officers manhandled him and threw him
face-first onto an asphalt driveway because they thought he was
trespassing in an unoccupied home. In fact, the homeowner confirmed
later, McBay had permission to stay there, and McBay says in his
lawsuit that he tried to convince police of that before they sent him
to the hospital with 17 stitches in his nose and chin.
Menlo Park City
Attorney Bill McClure said the officers behaved appropriately and that
Menlo Park would not tolerate police misconduct.
In an unrelated
case last week, one of the three officers named in the suit -- canine
patrol officer Scott Mackdanz -- was accused by a motorist he arrested
in August of using excessive force and falsifying police reports. That
man, James Edward Lee, 60, faces misdemeanor charges of resisting
arrest.
Lee's defense
lawyer persuaded a Superior Court judge to let him review Mackdanz's
personnel records, including any complaints filed against the officer
within the past five years. Attorney Mitri Hanania said that the judge
forbade him from commenting about the records, but that he made the
request because a pattern of complaints would show a ``dishonest
propensity.''
The claims
against Menlo Park police come as two officers in Palo Alto face a
criminal trial for allegedly beating a motorist and as a pair of East
Palo Alto patrolmen are under investigation for allegedly beating a
suspected drug dealer while off-duty.
**********
12/10/04 -
California - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that San Diego, California,
officials were right to fire a policeman who sold sexually explicit
videotapes of himself in uniform.
The unsigned,
unanimous opinion reverses a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision
in favor of the officer, who sued under the alias John Roe and claimed
his free speech rights were violated.
At issue was the
scope of the First Amendment, which protects government workers from
discharge if their conduct involves a "public concern" rather than
personal, job-related issues such as salary or promotions.
"The speech in
question was detrimental to the mission and functions of the employer,"
justices said in the ruling, noting that Roe "took deliberate steps to
link his videos and other wares to his police work, all in a way
injurious to his employer."
************
July 1st,
2004 - LOS ANGELES -- Police officers were not following department
policies during the televised arrest and beating of an unarmed black
man, Police Chief William Bratton said.
"It is a mess. It
is not what we teach at the academy," Bratton told the Los Angeles City
Council during a two-hour briefing Wednesday.
The June 23
beating of suspected car thief Stanley Miller has drawn comparisons to
the 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King and has prompted state
and federal investigations. Eight officers have been put on desk duty
pending the outcome of the probes.
Miller, 36, was
chased by police from South Los Angeles to Compton after he was spotted
running a red light in a reportedly stolen car, officers said.
Television news helicopters broadcast footage of him being kicked and
repeatedly struck with a heavy metal flashlight after he had apparently
surrendered and was on the ground.
The police chief told the City Council that it
still was unclear from the videotapes where Miller was struck.
He said a series
of tactical errors were made during the arrest, beginning with an
officer who holstered his gun before tackling Miller when he should
have kept it trained on the suspect while other officers handcuffed
him.
Officer John Hatfield's kicking of Miller also was
not departmental policy, he said. "We don't teach kicks," Bratton said.
**********
May 11, 2004 -
A San Francisco police officer who was suspended and put on probation
two years ago for insubordination faces new charges that he allegedly
made sexual advances toward a woman while on duty.
Taraval station
Officer Terry Huey -- who had been suspended for 90 days in 2002 and
could be dismissed if guilty of another violation of department
regulations -- is accused of making unwanted romantic advances toward a
woman who complained that her landlord had entered her apartment
illegally. The newly constituted Police Commission will assign a member
Wednesday to conduct a hearing on the case.
Steve Johnson,
Huey's union representative, declined to comment. According to the
charges, the misconduct occurred when Huey, 40, who has been on the
force six years, and his partner answered a call at the woman's
apartment June 8. Huey spoke to the woman, who said her landlord had
entered her home without permission.
Huey allegedly
asked the woman if she was married, whether she lived alone, about her
sexual orientation, whether she was in a relationship and "if she was
having her sexual urges satisfied,'' the charges state. Huey said his
wife had been killed in a car wreck and suggested that he and the woman
go to the bar across the street.
Huey also
reportedly remarked on the woman's wrist tattoo, then asked her to
guess where he had a tattoo before telling her it was on his buttocks.
He allegedly stroked the woman's shoulder.
****
April 8, 2004 -
The San Francisco Police Commission on Wednesday suspended two
sergeants and refused to throw out a case against five officers accused
of groping two girls and using excessive force against a boy during an
arrest in Hunters Point.
The commission voted to suspend Sgt. Damon Keeve
for 45 days.
Keeve admitted
to trying to dismiss a traffic ticket by bribing a Brisbane police
officer and leaving a message with that city's police chief in 2002.
Keeve also faces an additional 45-day suspension if another complaint
is sustained against him within the next two years.
Sgt. Thomas Haymond was suspended for 10 days for
injuring a man with a flashlight during an arrest in 2001.
Attorneys for
the five officers accused of misconduct at Hunters Point during a car
search in January 2002 wanted the case dismissed because the one- year
statute of limitations had expired when the department filed charges in
April 2003.
In other action,
the commission rejected a deal with Lt. Daniel Curiel, who
was accused
of being verbally abusive to his subordinates and making sexist remarks
about a female lieutenant.
Curiel offered to
accept punishment that included 120 days suspension without pay and
immediate termination from the department if any more complaints were
sustained against him.
***************
April 8, 2004
- Bayview residents said they had to wait more than two years for
justice, but believed it was worth it Wednesday, after the Police
Commission voted that five police officers accused of roughing up a
group of kids at a housing project on Martin Luther King Jr. Day would
face a disciplinary hearing.
The police
officers are accused of assaulting a teenage boy and inappropriately
touching a young at gunpoint on the ground in a controversial incident
on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2002. The police have always
maintained they were responding to a report that there was a pair of
armed bandits in the Bayview housing project and that they mistook the
youths for the two men.
"I'm ecstatic,
I'm so glad," wept Susie McAllister, who says her teenage daughter was
inappropriately touched by a police officer.
"The Police
Commission needed to take a stand, to say, 'We hear you, and we are
going to back you up.' I appreciate it 100 percent. It lets the Police
Department know we are not going to tolerate this from anybody."
It was one
action of several taken by the Police Commission at one of their final
meetings before the board is dissolved, following criticism that they
were soft on police officers and failed to listen to community concerns
about police misconduct.
Observers
speculated that officers were keen to have their cases heard by the
current set of commissioners before a new, more "independent minded"
group of commissioners appointed by the mayor and the board of
supervisors, takes over at the end of the month.
The commission
ruled in a 3-2 vote in favor of a disciplinary hearing, denying the
officers' attorney's motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the
12-month statute of limitations had passed.
Sgt. Walter
Cuddy and Sherman Lee were charged with failing to properly carry out
their duties, with Cuddy further charged with neglecting his duty
involving procedures concerning minors. Police officers Marcial Marquez
and Adam Choy were charged with conducting an improper search of a
female juvenile. Officer Nicholas Bettencourt faces charges of failing
to identify why police were in the area and for making a racial
slur.
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