Chattanooga
group seeks ways to end police brutality
A group of about 50 people searched Saturday for solutions
to end what they say is police brutality in Chattanooga.
Concerned Citizens For Justice called a community meeting
after release of a video showing two Chattanooga police officers savagely
beating a federal halfway house inmate at the Salvation Army in June. The two
officers who beat Adam Tatum were fired but are asking an administrative law
judge to order they get their jobs back. It’s possible federal authorities may
press charges against them.
“We know the best solutions are right here in this room,”
said Ash-Lee Henderson, a Concerned Citizens for Justice organizer, who stood
at the front of Eastdale Village Community United Methodist Church, 1403 Tunnel
Blvd.
Among the ideas suggested were creating a civilian review
board for the police department, educating residents about their rights and
offering more legal training for police officers. The group encouraged
residents to document encounters with police using cellphones and to get badge
numbers.
In attendance were Tatum’s family members, City
Councilman-elect Moses Freeman and Yusuf Hakeem, candidate in the yet-undecided
District 9 council race.
Their next meeting is tentatively set at 3 p.m. April 6 at
the same location.
Homestead
police officers fired in brutality cases, cover-up
Two police officers accused of assaulting men outside of
Celio's Cuartel Latino bar in Homestead were fired along with another officer
who allegedly covered up the incident, a police spokesman said Friday
afternoon.
Two police officers accused of assaulting men outside of
Celio's Cuartel Latino bar in Homestead were fired along with another officer
who allegedly covered up the incident, a police spokesman said Friday
afternoon.
The police brutality incident happened nearly three years
ago. It involved three officers who were fired in February and suspended with
pay in April 2011. They were arrested in July and have cases pending with the
Miami-Dade state attorney's office.
Sgt. Jeffrey Rome is accused of kicking a 69-year-old man in
the head until he was unconscious and pepper-spraying an undocumented
Guatemalan in the face from close range. While Officer Giovanni Soto allegedly
beat up another man so badly with a nightstick that he disfigured his face.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Lizanne Deegan is accused of failing to report the beatings.
"It is an embarrassment to the police department. It's
bad for camaraderie,” Homestead Police spokesman Fernando Morales said. “It's
bad for your fellow officers. It's never a good thing."
Morales said that before the firing, the police chief, the
city manager and a board of senior officers with the Police Benevolent
Association reviewed the evidence and recommended that the officers be fired.
Immigrant farm workers frequent Celio's Cuartel Latino bar.
Homestead detectives who were investigating human trafficking caught the
attacks on video and took Arcadio Sosa Rodriguez, 69, to a nearby hospital.
According to a warrant Rodriquez spent a night in the
hospital and had cuts and bruises on his ankle, knees and elbow.
Rome is also accused of pepper-sprayed another man in the
face, handcuffing him to a fence, and sending away an ambulance that the man
had called for, according to an arrest warrant.
Soto, who faces a felony battery charge, and Deegan are
accused of misconduct.
Rome, 56, is facing felony charges of abuse of an elderly
adult and false imprisonment, and a misdemeanor battery charge. Rome, who is a
veteran in the department and was on the PBA's board of directors, entered a
not-guilty plea last year.
The PBA union has blasted the investigation as politically
motivated.
Two
Braddock officers suspended after they fight at police station
Two Braddock police officers have been suspended after
getting into a fight at the police station late Thursday.
Mayor John Fetterman said the incident occurred about 11:30
p.m., toward the end of their shifts. The officers weren't injured in the
"very short" altercation, which Mr. Fetterman described as "over
before it started."
"Unfortunately, a line was crossed," he said,
adding that the incident will be investigated to find out what caused the fight
and whether any disciplinary action should be taken.
Mike Manko, spokeswoman for District Attorney Stephen A.
Zappala Jr., confirmed the office is investigating the matter.
Mr. Manko said a Taser was involved in the incident, but he
wasn't sure how it was used, as the office had not yet received reports from
Braddock police.
Police Chief Frank DeBartolo could not be reached Friday.
The fight ended when the men realized they were behaving
inappropriately and another officer in the room broke up the fight, Mr.
Fetterman said.
Both men are on hourly pay, so they are now effectively
suspended without pay.
Mr. Fetterman stressed that both men are good police
officers, noting one saved five people from a fire in Rankin in December 2011.
The Braddock officers were responding to the fire because Rankin police were
assisting Duquesne police on another incident.
"These are not rogue officers," Mr. Fetterman
said. "This is an isolated incident."
Payouts
for alleged police misconduct up for council review
Chicago taxpayers likely will pay $4.5 million to the family
of a woman fatally shot by an off-duty police detective who opened fire on a
man he said had pointed a gun at him.
The proposed lawsuit settlement on Monday's City Council
Finance Committee agenda comes nearly a year after Rekia Boyd, 22, was shot in
the back of the head by Detective Dante Servin in an alley behind his West Side
house.
The committee also will consider a proposed $1.8 million
settlement for yet another victim of disgraced ex-Chicago police Cmdr. Jon
Burge and $515,000 for a woman injured in a traffic crash with an on-duty Chicago
officer.
The settlements would bring to almost $44 million the amount
the city has agreed to pay in just the first three months of 2013 to resolve
lawsuits alleging misconduct by Chicago police.
Melvin Brooks, the lawyer for Boyd's estate, said Friday that
her family was happy to avoid the court case.
"The family and the city were interested in getting
this case resolved without years of litigation," he said. "The city
recognized they had significant issues with this case. Ultimately, justice
would have been delayed."
According to the lawsuit filed by Boyd's family, Servin was
driving from the alley behind his home near West 15th Place and South Albany
Avenue when he argued with a group of people that included Boyd. The group was
walking in unseasonably warm weather at about 1 a.m. on March 21.
At the time, police alleged that Antonio Cross pointed a
handgun at Servin before the detective announced he was a police officer and
opened fire. The gunfire struck Cross in the hand and Boyd in the head. She
died the following day.
Police have acknowledged that no weapon was found at the
scene but contended that Cross left the scene for a short time after the
shooting. Cross, who was charged with a misdemeanor count of aggravated
assault, is awaiting trial.
Brooks said that Cross ran from the scene to flag down a
passing squad car a block away and returned to within minutes. Brooks said
Servin, the only person to discharge a weapon during the incident, fired about
five shots.
"Antonio didn't know he was a cop," Brooks said of
Servin. "All witnesses denied hearing Servin (say) ... he was working
within the scope of his employment."
The Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates
allegations of misconduct by Chicago police officers, referred the case to the
Cook County state's attorney's office for possible criminal prosecution. The
office declined comment Friday on the matter.
In one of the other proposed settlements, the city would pay
$1.8 million to James Andrews, who spent nearly a quarter of a century in
prison after he was beaten into confessing to two murders by detectives under
Burge's command. Burge is serving 4½ years in prison for lying about the use of
abuse and torture on criminal suspects.
Officers
suspended after inmate beating
COLUMBIA (WACH) -- One Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center
officer faces charges in a reported prison abuse case. The suspect is 37-year-old Robin Smith, who
is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. A county
spokeswoman confirms four other officers are suspended. Those officers
reportedly did not inform supervisors about their "use of force" on
an inmate that ended up in the hospital four days after the incident. Richland
County Sheriff Leon Lott says that Smith kicked the victim repeatedly in the
head and side and put his boot onto the victim’s head and neck while pulling
the victim’s arm the opposite direction. Captain Curtis Bufford of the Alvin S.
Glenn Dentention Center says there are policies and procedures for officers
when they have to use force on an inmate. "As a supervisor and a leader,
you always ask yourself what did we do, what could we have done, and what must
we do in the future," Captain Bufford said. The list of procedures when
using force include reports from all officers involved, camera footage, and
informing top officials at the detention center. Captain Bufford says "One
of our missions is to insure that nobody is any worse off when they leave than
they were when they came." Robin Smith is out on bond.
Former
Markham police officer charged with civil rights violations
A controversial former Markham police deputy chief was
arrested Thursday on a federal civil rights charge alleging he sexually abused
an unidentified person while acting in his official role.
The arrest of Tony DeBois by FBI agents at his south
suburban Matteson home marks the third time in as many months that criminal
charges have been filed against former or current Markham police officers.
DeBois, 41, wearing unlaced boots and khaki cargo shorts,
pleaded not guilty in a brief appearance Thursday in the Dirksen U.S.
Courthouse in downtown Chicago. He showed little emotion as his wife and
daughters looked on.
Once considered a top prospect to become Markham's police
chief, DeBois instead became that town's inspector general after the Tribune
reported in 2010 that in the previous six years he had been sued at least 13
times, in some cases on allegations he was abusive. He was sued at least four
more times over the next two years before leaving the city in 2012.
DeBois was indicted on charges he violated a person's civil
rights on Sept. 23, 2010, through aggravated sexual abuse and unlawful seizure.
Federal authorities would not comment further on the alleged
incident that led to DeBois' arrest, and city officials did not return calls
seeking comment.
His attorney, Robert Kuzas, told reporters his client
"categorically denied" the one-count indictment and called the
allegations "a little suspicious" because they stemmed from an
alleged incident more than two years ago.
"He's very upset that he was arrested with something he
has nothing to do with," Kuzas said.
City attorney Steven Miller said DeBois resigned as a police
officer last year and then was dismissed as inspector general. Miller said he
was unaware of the criminal investigation into the former deputy chief and did
not know of the 2010 incident.
He said city officials reacted with "sadness and
disappointment for all the parties involved" when they learned of the
charges.
DeBois, who according to a bankruptcy filing earned $130,000
in his first year as deputy chief in 2008, would not be the first Markham
police officer to remain on the job after allegedly committing a crime.
Two Markham officers — one of them the mayor's son —
remained on the street for two years and were paid more than $250,000 after
allegedly being caught stealing money from a warehouse in 2010 while responding
to a burglary call, records obtained through an open-records request show.
Darryl Starks, 41, and Andrew Webb, 38, were charged in
November with armed violence, theft of property and official misconduct on
allegations they stole cash from a Dolton warehouse while investigating the
theft of flat-screen televisions. Webb, the son of Mayor David Webb Jr.,
started out in the town's public works department before being hired on as a
police officer.
Kuzas said retaliation from those officers might be a factor
in the arrest of DeBois, who headed the Markham Police Department's internal
affairs division from 2007 to about 2011.
"If they are the witnesses who I believe them to be,
Mr. DeBois has recommended these officers be separated from the Police
Department based on their criminal conduct," Kuzas said.
DeBois isn't the first Markham city employee to be accused
of sexual wrongdoing. Mark Houser, a former Markham code enforcement officer,
was convicted in 2007 of raping a 14-year-old summer intern at City Hall and is
serving a 14-year prison sentence
Police
misconduct stains evidence
WORCESTER — Finding that “improper manipulative police
tactics” were used by two Webster detectives while questioning a robbery
suspect, a judge has precluded prosecutors from using the man’s incriminating
statements as evidence against him at trial.
Trent Nicholopoulos, 23, of 38 Prospect St., Webster, is
awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court on an armed robbery charge stemming
from the Jan. 13, 2012, robbery of a diamond engagement ring from a woman and
her boyfriend at the McDonald’s restaurant on East Main Street in Webster.
Police said the victims, Cassidy Mann and Harvey Jackson,
said they were robbed at gunpoint by two men after Ms. Mann offered the ring
for sale on Craigslist and arrangements were made to meet with a potential
buyer at the restaurant.
Salvatore Albanese, 23, of 42 Prospect St., Webster, who was
identified by Mr. Jackson as the man who displayed a handgun and took the ring,
was sentenced to 3 to 5 years in state prison July 3 after pleading guilty to
armed robbery. Mr. Nicholopoulos was arrested after Mr. Albanese was questioned
by police and identified Mr. Nicholopoulos as having been with him at the time
of the holdup.
Shown a photo array that included a picture of Mr.
Nicholopoulos, Mr. Jackson identified him as the man who was with Mr. Albanese
at the time of the robbery. Ms. Mann was unable to identify Mr. Nicholopoulos.
When questioned by Detectives Gordon Wentworth and James
Hoover 10 days after the robbery, Mr. Nicholopoulos initially denied any
involvement in the robbery, but later admitted that he went to McDonald’s with Mr.
Albanese to see some people about a ring. He told the officers he was not armed
at the time and did not know Mr. Albanese was going to steal the ring.
Mr. Nicholopoulos’ lawyer, Thomas W. Brousseau, filed a
motion to suppress his client’s statements to police, contending false and
deceitful statements about the evidence made to Mr. Nicholopoulos by the two
detectives rendered his statements involuntary.
Judge Janet Kenton-Walker allowed the motion in a 14-page
ruling issued Feb. 12.
“While one mistaken falsehood is not sufficient to suppress
an otherwise unobjectionable interrogation, the deliberate falsehoods used by
Wentworth and Hoover represent the type of improper manipulative police tactics
that, in this case, deprived Nicholopoulos of his ability to make an
‘unconstrained, autonomous decision to confess,’ ” Judge Kenton-Walker said in
her ruling, which cited case law.
The judge found that Mr. Nicholopoulos’ “will was overborne”
by the officers and said the prosecution had not sustained its burden of
proving beyond a reasonable doubt that his statement was voluntary.
Assistant District Attorney John H. Melander defended the
officers’ actions in his written opposition to the motion, saying the
detectives did not intentionally mislead or deceive Mr. Nicholopoulos.
“Furthermore, numerous cases have held that misinformation by police does not
necessarily render a confession involuntary, but is a factor to be considered,”
the prosecutor wrote.
According to the judge’s ruling, Detective Hoover made a
“misleading” statement to Mr. Nicholopoulos during the interrogation that he
had been identified by both victims.
Mr. Melander said Mr. Nicholopoulos had been identified “as
one of the two robbers” by Mr. Albanese and Mr. Jackson. While it appeared that
Detective Hoover may have accidentally told Mr. Nicholopoulos he had been
identified by the two victims, that should not be construed as an attempt on
his part to intentionally mislead the suspect, the prosecutor wrote.
Judge Kenton-Walker further found that Detective Wentworth
falsely told Mr. Nicholopoulos he and Mr. Albanese had been captured on
surveillance video from McDonald’s and that independent witnesses had seen the
two men running through their yards that night.
In reality, police were unable to identify two individuals
depicted on the surveillance video because of its poor quality.
In a footnote to her ruling, Judge Kenton-Walker said
Detective Wentworth admitted during a Nov. 26 hearing on the motion to suppress
that what he told Mr. Nicholopoulos about what was revealed on the video was
not true.
“He also claimed to not recall telling Nicholopoulos about
the two independent witnesses, but admitted that if he did say that, it was not
true. Wentworth denied that he had misled Nicholopoulos, and described his
false statements as interrogation techniques,” the judge wrote.
Mr. Nicholopoulos is being held on $2,000 cash bail. His
trial is scheduled for June 24.
2 NOPD
officers charged in separate alleged beatings of handcuffed citizens
The Orleans Parish district attorney's office charged two
NOPD officers on Tuesday in separate incidents of alleged beatings of
handcuffed citizens. Both were charged with malfeasance in office and simple
battery, said Christopher Bowman, assistant district attorney and spokesman for
the district attorney's office.
Both Lt. Michael Field, a 28-year veteran, and officer Jamal
Kendrick, who joined the force in 2010, will be placed on emergency suspension
without pay starting Wednesday, NOPD spokeswoman Remi Braden said.
Field was charged in the alleged beating of a handcuffed
19-year-old Alabama man during Mardi Gras 2012, an incident that prompted at
least two NOPD officers to file complaints with the department's Public
Integrity Bureau, Braden said.
Dylan Driggers was arrested on Bourbon Street and detained
on a charge of public intoxication. Driggers filed a federal civil rights
lawsuit on Feb. 19, alleging that Field and other officers beat him unconscious
while he was handcuffed to a bench at the 8th District station in the French
Quarter. Driggers was later diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, requiring
medical treatment, according to the lawsuit.
Other NOPD officers witnessed the attack and did not
intervene, the suit alleges. Showing off his knuckles, Field later bragged
about having beaten Driggers, the lawsuit says. Driggers' suit further alleges
that police -- including 8th District Commander Jeff Walls -- orchestrated a
subsequent cover-up by possibly destroying surveillance video.
Kendrick, who joined the NOPD in September 2009, was charged
in an Oct. 13, 2012, incident in which he was led on a chase by a driver who
refused to pull over. When the driver finally stopped, Kendrick handcuffed the
driver and was shown on his car's video recorder striking the driver, Braden
said. The Public Integrity Bureau investigated that case as well, before
handing it over to the district attorney's office.
Lawyers for both police officers defended their clients.
"We're disappointed by the news," said Field's attorney Bruce Whittaker.
"We are commencing our investigation, and we will defend it
aggressively."
"These are mere allegations by the district attorney's
office," said attorney Ray Burkart III on behalf of Kendrick.
"Officer Kendrick is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We ask that he
is given that same right that every other citizen is given."
Newspaper archives show Kendrick was among six officers who
were at the fatal shooting of a murder suspect in eastern New Orleans in
January 2012. In that incident, the police chased a car containing three
suspects in a triple murder at a nearby home.
When the car eventually crashed into a pole, 21-year-old
Donald Johnson began firing at officers with a handgun, police said. Officers
returned fire and killed Johnson. Two other people in the car were arrested and
booked with murder.
An investigation found that Kendrick and his colleagues
acted appropriately, Burkart said.
Corey
Parker And Michael Hodges, Former Winston-Salem Police Officer, Charged In
Assault Case
Winston-Salem, NC - Two men were charged Tuesday for
assaults that happened in Winston Salem in February.
According to investigators, one of the men charged is a
former Winston-Salem police officer.
Police said an assault was reported shortly after 1 am
February 21 at Burke St. Pub located at 110 Burke St.
Detectives said Evan Lawson and Alan Atkinson were at the
pub and got into a "verbal disturbance" with Corey Parker and Michael
Hodges, who was an off-duty Winston-Salem police officer at that time. One of
the men told police Parker assaulted him at the pub.
After leaving the victims encountered Parker and Hodges
again in the parking lot of Burke Street Pizza at 1140 Burke St. That's when
police say during that confrontation Lawson was assaulted by both Parker and
Hodges.
Both victims received treatment from an area hospital and
were released. Lawson sustained a "serious injury" to his face,
police said.
Detectives used surveillance video from nearby businesses
and witness accounts in their investigation and presented it to the District
Attorney's Office.
Hodges formally resigned from Winston-Salem Police
Department Sunday after more than two years as a patrol officer.
Tuesday, charges were filed against Parker and Hodges.
Parker was charged with Simple Assault on the victim at the pub. Both Parker
and Hodges were each charged with Assault Inflicting Serious Injury on the
second victim.
Parker was released under a $2,000 unsecured bond; Hodges
was released on a $1,500 unsecured bond. Both men have a court date of May 13.
Dallas
Police Officer Suspended for Violent Rap
DALLAS - - A Dallas police lieutenant has been suspended for
posting a video of herself online performing a rap song that contains
profanities and threats of violence.
Police officials say Lt. Regina Smith, performing as Lucille
Baller, "brought discredit to the department."
Smith was placed on administrative leave in November but her
disciplinary hearing wasn't held until Friday. Assistant Police Chief Cynthia
Villarreal issued a five-day suspension.
Officials say that as owner of the Big Rush In music
production company, Smith appeared in uniform on the company website. In one
video she displays her service weapon while holding a bullet and "making
inappropriate statements."
Smith is assigned to the property crimes division.
Her attorney, Chris Livingston, told The Dallas Morning News
that she's served the department with distinction for 25 years.
Lafayette
responds to federal lawsuit alleging police misconduct
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The city of Lafayette responded
Friday to a federal lawsuit alleging police misconduct.
In November 2011, Tyler Collins was charged with three
felonies and five misdemeanors after police say he held his ex-girlfriend in
his car against her will, then tried to take an officer's gun while he was
being treated at the hospital. After pleading guilty to several charges last
summer, he was sentenced to just under 4.5 years in prison, with almost one
year's credit for good behavior.
In December, Collins, who is now 24, filed a lawsuit in
federal court against Officer Bernie Myers and the city of Lafayette. Collins
states that Myers hit him repeatedly in the face and pinned him to the hospital
bed while he was confined to the bed with both wrists handcuffed. He states the
assault stopped only after a physician intervened.
The city answered the complaint Friday. They deny each of
the six counts, stating that Myers was forced to restrain Collins because
Collins once tried to grab his gun and once tried to bite him. The answer also
states Collins spit bloody saliva into the face and eye of a nurse.
Rally
held in Mott Haven to protest stop-and-frisk, police brutality
MOTT HAVEN - Bronx residents and people from across New York
held a rally in Mott Haven today to protest police brutality and the
stop-and-frisk program. The "Stop the Cops" march comes one year
after the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida and Ramarley Graham in The
Bronx. The 18-year-old Bronx resident was shot and killed in the bathroom of
his home by an NYPD officer. Graham was unarmed at the time of his death. The
rally began on 138th Street and ended at 125th Street.
Man
sues St. Paul, alleging police brutality
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The city of St. Paul is being sued in
federal court over an alleged incident of police brutality from 2007.
Gerald Hutchinson, 59, said he was beaten by police after
being mistaken for a suspect in the alley behind his St. Paul home nearly six
years ago. His lawsuit said he suffered a black eye, lacerations and
"emotional harm" as a result of the incident.
According to the suit, he was arrested, detained for
"about 3 days" and never charged.
An internal affairs investigation found that Officer David
Stokes used excessive force in arresting Hutchinson. The other officers
involved were exonerated.
Hutchinson filed his lawsuit just months before the statute
of limitations deadline. Attorney Joshua Williams said his client is seeking
more than $75,000 in damages.
"I can't give back to him what those officers took from
him," Williams said. "I can't get him back his dignity. Based on past
experience, I'm not going to get a meaningful apology. We can sue for money
damages."
St. Paul has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit. But
the City Council will vote next week to hire outside counsel to represent the
officer in court. The council's agenda says the city will set aside up to
$20,000 for that purpose.
Fort
Lauderdale settles false arrest lawsuit for $62,500
A Deerfield Beach man wrongly handcuffed and frisked by
police in a 2009 undercover narcotics operation will receive $62,500 from the
city for false arrest and for violating his civil rights.
A federal district judge last month issued a summary
judgment in favor of Jeffrey Dowling, 48, holding the city liable and setting a
trial date to determine what the city would have to pay.
Rather than go to trial, commissioners approved the
settlement at their Feb. 19 meeting.
"The [major narcotics unit] was following a suspect at
the request of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) at the time of the incident
and mistakenly believed that the plaintiff was somehow connected to the DEA
suspect," City Manager Lee Feldman explained in a memo to commissioners.
The Jan. 6, 2009, incident occurred after federal agents
informed police about a drug trafficker in a van with a kilo of cocaine,
according to the summary judgment.
Officer Shannon Dameron stopped the van at a Kwik Stop on
Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach. Dowling's car pulled into the parking
lot shortly after the stop and Dameron claimed to have seen Dowling speak to
the van's driver, which Dowling denied, according to court documents.
Dameron told Detective Mike Freeley, who handcuffed and
frisked Dowling. Dowling and his girlfriend said they had stopped to get
lottery tickets at the store after picking up lunch at a nearby Popeye's
Chicken.
Federal District Judge James Cohn ruled Freeley didn't have
reasonable suspicion to detain Dowling and didn't have probable cause to frisk
him. Cohn said Freeley should not have used handcuffs because there was no
indication Dowling, who was cooperating with police, was a flight risk or posed
any danger.
While Dowling was handcuffed for 20 minutes, the actual
suspect was never handcuffed or arrested, the summary judgment said.
"Jeffrey's civil rights were violated and justice has
been served," said his attorney, Gary Kollin. "Hopefully, this will
never happen again."