Post by WaTcHeR on Feb 3, 2006 11:16:32 GMT -5
02/02/2006 - The Town of Cicero won a major court victory Wednesday against a former high-ranking police official who conceded that he appointed unqualified police officers--many of whom remain on the force.
Clarence Gross, who oversaw Police Department hires for four years as chairman of Cicero's Police and Fire Commission, could be forced to pay the town up to $1 million in damages.
The ruling in federal court is the latest twist in a two-year legal drama that began when Gross sued for back pay but soon mushroomed into a police-hiring scandal.
"Clarence Gross knowingly hired unqualified police officers and gave them a gun and a badge, and he had the audacity to sue Cicero saying they owed him money--and now Clarence is going to have to pay," said Terry Ekl, a Clarendon Hills-based lawyer handling the case for the town.
U.S. Judge John W. Darrah indicated in his written order that 33 cops were hired improperly during Gross' tenure on the commission, which ended in 2001. Darrah did not name the officers.
The questionable police recruits lied on pre-employment polygraph tests, posted below-average scores on psychological evaluations and, in some cases, admitted to crimes including drug abuse, theft and using excessive force on earlier police jobs, according to police and court papers filed by attorneys for Cicero.
Town spokesman Dan Proft called Wednesday's ruling a victory. "Certainly it's a vindication of the position the town took, and it kind of sends a message hopefully that the days of using the courts to play the lottery on the backs of Cicero taxpayers are over," he said.
Town officials hired a former Cook County judge last fall to conduct an independent review of police hiring and that effort remains ongoing, Proft said.
The town will try to recoup the cost of that investigation from Gross in a court hearing later this month. Cicero lawyers also will seek to have Gross reimburse the town for more than $800,000 in costs related to an out-of-court settlement prompted by a wrongful DUI arrest in 2000. Gross has identified the Cicero officer who made the arrest--and who since has left the department--as one of the unqualified cops he hired.
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed town documents on the questionable hires, records show.
The improperly hired recruits who joined the force from January 1998 to December 2001, today constitute more than 20 percent of the town's force of roughly 140 sworn officers.
Although some of the recruits' shortcomings were relatively minor and some of the officers went on to commendable careers, others have been--and in some cases remain--embroiled in misconduct complaints and costly civil rights lawsuits.
Cicero now must retest and re-evaluate the 33 officers, Darrah wrote. Some could be discharged. Darrah wrote that the costs of investigating and retesting those cops could be included in the possible damages Gross now faces.
Gross could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His attorneys, Dana L. Kurtz and Christopher Mammel, did not return calls.
A 30-year Cicero police official, Gross retired as acting chief in 1997 amid unproven allegations that he beat a mentally disabled man in the town jail. Gross was never charged with wrongdoing in that case. A year later, Betty Loren-Maltese, who was town president at the time, made him chairman of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.
Under state laws designed to shield municipal police departments from patronage and political interference, Cicero's police commission is supposed to hire and promote officers based on merit tests. The commission also is supposed to rank job candidates without input from town officials or the police superintendent.
Yet Gross testified he hired unqualified recruits at the direction of local powerbrokers, including Loren-Maltese, who since has been imprisoned for a mob-linked insurance scheme that looted town coffers of $10.6 million.
Cicero attorneys argued in court papers that the dubious hires were a product of Gross' efforts to consolidate "a loyal force of police personnel who would act at his direction for his own personal gain."
Darrah on Wednesday wrote that Gross appointed officers "even though he did not believe they were qualified. He believed that, if he did not hire them, his positions would be terminated."While Gross served as unpaid police commission chairman, Loren-Maltese also gave him several other top town posts that paid roughly $60,000 a year, court records show. Loren-Maltese gave Gross the extra jobs despite a state law that bars municipal officeholders from serving on police hiring commissions.
Gross sued the town in federal court in December 2003 saying he was wrongfully terminated from those posts the year before.
Loren-Maltese testified that she lost faith in Gross's judgment because of factors including his favoritism toward his police officer daughter--who allegedly is one of the questionable hires he made.
Rhonda Gross later sued the town claiming she was denied choice police assignments after she claimed she was sexually harassed by a Police Department supervisor.
In October, Cicero officials paid Rhonda Gross and Kurtz, who represents both father and daughter, $650,000 to settle the case out of court.
Clarence Gross, who oversaw Police Department hires for four years as chairman of Cicero's Police and Fire Commission, could be forced to pay the town up to $1 million in damages.
The ruling in federal court is the latest twist in a two-year legal drama that began when Gross sued for back pay but soon mushroomed into a police-hiring scandal.
"Clarence Gross knowingly hired unqualified police officers and gave them a gun and a badge, and he had the audacity to sue Cicero saying they owed him money--and now Clarence is going to have to pay," said Terry Ekl, a Clarendon Hills-based lawyer handling the case for the town.
U.S. Judge John W. Darrah indicated in his written order that 33 cops were hired improperly during Gross' tenure on the commission, which ended in 2001. Darrah did not name the officers.
The questionable police recruits lied on pre-employment polygraph tests, posted below-average scores on psychological evaluations and, in some cases, admitted to crimes including drug abuse, theft and using excessive force on earlier police jobs, according to police and court papers filed by attorneys for Cicero.
Town spokesman Dan Proft called Wednesday's ruling a victory. "Certainly it's a vindication of the position the town took, and it kind of sends a message hopefully that the days of using the courts to play the lottery on the backs of Cicero taxpayers are over," he said.
Town officials hired a former Cook County judge last fall to conduct an independent review of police hiring and that effort remains ongoing, Proft said.
The town will try to recoup the cost of that investigation from Gross in a court hearing later this month. Cicero lawyers also will seek to have Gross reimburse the town for more than $800,000 in costs related to an out-of-court settlement prompted by a wrongful DUI arrest in 2000. Gross has identified the Cicero officer who made the arrest--and who since has left the department--as one of the unqualified cops he hired.
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed town documents on the questionable hires, records show.
The improperly hired recruits who joined the force from January 1998 to December 2001, today constitute more than 20 percent of the town's force of roughly 140 sworn officers.
Although some of the recruits' shortcomings were relatively minor and some of the officers went on to commendable careers, others have been--and in some cases remain--embroiled in misconduct complaints and costly civil rights lawsuits.
Cicero now must retest and re-evaluate the 33 officers, Darrah wrote. Some could be discharged. Darrah wrote that the costs of investigating and retesting those cops could be included in the possible damages Gross now faces.
Gross could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His attorneys, Dana L. Kurtz and Christopher Mammel, did not return calls.
A 30-year Cicero police official, Gross retired as acting chief in 1997 amid unproven allegations that he beat a mentally disabled man in the town jail. Gross was never charged with wrongdoing in that case. A year later, Betty Loren-Maltese, who was town president at the time, made him chairman of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.
Under state laws designed to shield municipal police departments from patronage and political interference, Cicero's police commission is supposed to hire and promote officers based on merit tests. The commission also is supposed to rank job candidates without input from town officials or the police superintendent.
Yet Gross testified he hired unqualified recruits at the direction of local powerbrokers, including Loren-Maltese, who since has been imprisoned for a mob-linked insurance scheme that looted town coffers of $10.6 million.
Cicero attorneys argued in court papers that the dubious hires were a product of Gross' efforts to consolidate "a loyal force of police personnel who would act at his direction for his own personal gain."
Darrah on Wednesday wrote that Gross appointed officers "even though he did not believe they were qualified. He believed that, if he did not hire them, his positions would be terminated."While Gross served as unpaid police commission chairman, Loren-Maltese also gave him several other top town posts that paid roughly $60,000 a year, court records show. Loren-Maltese gave Gross the extra jobs despite a state law that bars municipal officeholders from serving on police hiring commissions.
Gross sued the town in federal court in December 2003 saying he was wrongfully terminated from those posts the year before.
Loren-Maltese testified that she lost faith in Gross's judgment because of factors including his favoritism toward his police officer daughter--who allegedly is one of the questionable hires he made.
Rhonda Gross later sued the town claiming she was denied choice police assignments after she claimed she was sexually harassed by a Police Department supervisor.
In October, Cicero officials paid Rhonda Gross and Kurtz, who represents both father and daughter, $650,000 to settle the case out of court.