Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 27, 2006 12:00:45 GMT -5
01/24/2006- This wouldn't have anything to do with the skyrocketing murder rate in Sheriff-patrolled areas like Compton, would it? According to a weekend story in the LA Times:
The Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission is considering an effort to seal from public view the investigative records of law enforcement officials accused of dishonesty, excessive force and other misconduct.
The issue has attracted attention from the Sheriff's Department, the union representing thousands of deputies and open government advocates and has the potential to change decades of access to these records in Los Angeles County ...
On Wednesday, an attorney representing Deputy Frank Rothe asked the commission to seal all internal affairs records filed with the panel involving deputies, probation officers and other county law enforcement officials, arguing that those investigations are confidential under long-standing state law.
As the Church Lady would say, "Now isn't that con-VEEEEN-ient."
So if the records are sealed, and the actions of the law enforcement officers that you and me pay for are completely hidden from the public, from all public scrutiny, well ... to whom, exactly, would those officers be accountable? The hacks on the CSC? The County Commissioners, who well know which side of the bread their public employee union campaign contributions are on? The DA's Department, recently slammed for their reluctance to prosecute anyone wearing anything remotely resembling a uniform?
Boy, it's a good thing that L.A. has never had issues with out-of-control, violent, and corrupt law enforcement isn't it?
To his credit, Mike Gennaco, of the Office of Independent Review has protested this move. The OIR is one of the few watchdogs with anything even remotely resembling teeth ' even if it hasn't used them so far, they are (at least theoretically) there...
If you've never managed to get your mitts on one of their annual reports ' do so.
You will probably never see nor hear of these things again.
Here are some excerpts:
CASE:
"During a drug surveillance, deputies, detectives and a sergeant attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a suspected drug dealer's vehicle. When the suspect tried to escape ... LASD members fired several rounds at the suspect's vehicle. These shootings failed to disable the suspect of his vehicle, and occurred after Department personnel placed themselves in a vulnerable position, i.e. , at the rear of the suspect's vehicle and in the space between the suspect's vehicle and a parked car.... A vehicle pursuit commenced .... LASD members fired additional rounds at the suspect and his vehicle. Again, these additional rounds failed to disable the suspect or his vehicle and occurred after Department personnel either placed themselves in a vulnerable position, i.e., the middle of the street, or jumped out of the vehicle's path. During the vehicle pursuit, there was
ineffective radio communication ....
...[T]he panel elevated the case to an IAB investigation to examine whether three of the involved LASD personnel violated policy. EFRC found that three Department memberes violated policy by failing to either commuicate the vehicle pursuit, to supervisr or assume adequate control, to take a tactically safe position, to use cover or concealment and to fire numerous rounds appropriately ....
[The eventual conclusion was that] the actions did not rise to the level of policy violations.
Or this one, at a domestic violence call, where an upset man threatened to shoot if the Deputies sicced their police dog on him. They talked to him for a while, then got sick of it and let loose the dog.
CASE:
"...the man stood up with something dark in his hand and made athrowing motion. Numerous LASD personnel wihtin the inner containment fired their weapons, killing both the man and the canine. The dark object turned out to be a slipper.
"...a number of involved personnel had violated policy ... the most grievous performance failure was the lack of communication between the dog handler's supervisor and the perimeter deputies ... the deputies who fired their weapons were not chosen by the on-scene sergeant as 'designated shooters.' "
The deputies were given minor suspensions. They are contesting even that amount of punishment. The case is winding its way through "the system." This is probably the first, and last, that you will ever hear of it.
There is so much, much more. This whole site could be devoted to just one of the pages in this report. Here are some excerpts:
"A deputy, while off-duty, was observed by officers of another police department in the company of a known prostitute and drug dealer ... By the end of the investigation, the deputy and the prostitute had begun to live together, and he called her his 'significant other' ...
This deputy was taped by the woman he arrested, stalked, then helped her beat the rap: "A deputy arrested a female driver for DUIT ... within several hours of releasing her from custody, the deputy began calling her from his cell phone.... the deputy made more than one hundred and twenty (120) calls to the woman ... the motorist taped the conversations and provided the tape to the Deputy District Attorney ... the deputy discussed how he had written his arrest report with intentional ambiguities and suggested how the woman could use those problems with the report for her defense. He later appeared with her for her DMV license suspension hearing...."
Love seems to blossom in jail - especially when the woman is handcuffed and can't resist: "... a deputy approached a female inmate in custody and engaged her in conversation of a personal nature ... hugging her, kissing her forehead and touching her buttocks ... the Department's Internal Crime Investigation Bureau connected a recording device to the inmate's home telephone ... he admitted to touching her inappropriately ... the inmate told the deputy about the criminal investigation and that his admission had been recorded. The deputy went to the inmate's house, seized the audiotape recording of his admission and took the inmate with him to a local store to purchase a new audiotape. The deputy then replaced the original recorded conversations with the new audiotape containing a new staged recording...."
Think cops just arrest people for driving drunk? Think again. By mid-September 2005, more than 18 LASD employees had been arrested for DUI, and this does NOT include the two LASD arrested for public drunkenness or disorderly conduct.
A deputy driving his jetski while totally shit-faced was busted, but "When responding officers attempted to arrest and handcuff him .... struck by the deputy's elbows and fists as the deputy violently broke out of the officers' holds .... sprayed the deputy with OC spray.'
This is not an unique reaction - the Sheriffs seem to feel they are a law unto themselves, and attack officers from other agencies who try to rein them in: "...arrested an LASD deputy for driving under the influence ... had passed out at the wheel ... became belligerent when police officers tried to effectuate their arrest..."
How about sexual misconduct?
One deputy "...threatened to arrest the driver if she did not show him her undergarments ... illuminated her vagina by inserting his flashlight ... stopped a female pedestrian on her way to work ... made a pretext of searching ... had her turn around and pulled the front of her pants away ... threatened to deport her ...
"Stopped another female pedestrian ... found she had a record and threatened to violate her parole unless she cooperated with him. He then told her to pull her pants down and show her underwear ... had her get into his patrol car and pull her pants down ... inserted his finger ... orally copulate ..."
Another: "established a personal relationship with a 17-year-old girl, whom he met while on-duty ... visited her while on-duty and using a Department vehicle ... attended her graduation ... sexual intercourse with her in his office ... falsified his daily logs to indicate that he was at another location..."
This horny guy "...masturbated while on duty . The incident was witnessed by a female colleague. DNA forensic testing established that the seminal fluid recovered at the scene matched DNA obtained from the deputy..."
Someone who watched that godawful Madonna movie Body of Evidence had "...inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor female ... fondled the minor's breasts and inserted his finger into her vagina ... poured hot wax on his body in her presence..."
This scary stalker just couldn't take no for an answer "...after a deputy's relationship with a woman came to an end against his wishes, the woman returned from a weekend trip to find that her home had been vandalized, and that a number of her personal items were missing .... television ruined with bleach and furniture that had been urinated on ... the deputy/ex-boyfriend had improperly fixed a ticket for a friend of hers to get information ... accessed law enforcement databases in order to obtain personal information about her and her new boyfriend...."
Trust a sheriff's deputy around your children?
"...deputy was charged with felony corporal injury to a child resulting in a traumatic condition ... ordered to stay away from the 3-year-old girl he was convicted of abusing ... deputy appealed ... his experts testified that the burst blood vessels in her face were not caused by covering her mouth and asphyxiating the child ... but by the child's crying, sneezing or an infection ... the deputy got his job back."
Sleep tight tonight, L.A. Sleep tight, knowing that the rogue cops out there are all about to get a massive get out of jail free card. Without public outcry, there will be no pressure to enact even the feeble reforms that have been done in the past 20 years since people began waking up to the fact that Gates' boys were up to something down in the 'hood.
www.lavoice.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1451
The Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission is considering an effort to seal from public view the investigative records of law enforcement officials accused of dishonesty, excessive force and other misconduct.
The issue has attracted attention from the Sheriff's Department, the union representing thousands of deputies and open government advocates and has the potential to change decades of access to these records in Los Angeles County ...
On Wednesday, an attorney representing Deputy Frank Rothe asked the commission to seal all internal affairs records filed with the panel involving deputies, probation officers and other county law enforcement officials, arguing that those investigations are confidential under long-standing state law.
As the Church Lady would say, "Now isn't that con-VEEEEN-ient."
So if the records are sealed, and the actions of the law enforcement officers that you and me pay for are completely hidden from the public, from all public scrutiny, well ... to whom, exactly, would those officers be accountable? The hacks on the CSC? The County Commissioners, who well know which side of the bread their public employee union campaign contributions are on? The DA's Department, recently slammed for their reluctance to prosecute anyone wearing anything remotely resembling a uniform?
Boy, it's a good thing that L.A. has never had issues with out-of-control, violent, and corrupt law enforcement isn't it?
To his credit, Mike Gennaco, of the Office of Independent Review has protested this move. The OIR is one of the few watchdogs with anything even remotely resembling teeth ' even if it hasn't used them so far, they are (at least theoretically) there...
If you've never managed to get your mitts on one of their annual reports ' do so.
You will probably never see nor hear of these things again.
Here are some excerpts:
CASE:
"During a drug surveillance, deputies, detectives and a sergeant attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a suspected drug dealer's vehicle. When the suspect tried to escape ... LASD members fired several rounds at the suspect's vehicle. These shootings failed to disable the suspect of his vehicle, and occurred after Department personnel placed themselves in a vulnerable position, i.e. , at the rear of the suspect's vehicle and in the space between the suspect's vehicle and a parked car.... A vehicle pursuit commenced .... LASD members fired additional rounds at the suspect and his vehicle. Again, these additional rounds failed to disable the suspect or his vehicle and occurred after Department personnel either placed themselves in a vulnerable position, i.e., the middle of the street, or jumped out of the vehicle's path. During the vehicle pursuit, there was
ineffective radio communication ....
...[T]he panel elevated the case to an IAB investigation to examine whether three of the involved LASD personnel violated policy. EFRC found that three Department memberes violated policy by failing to either commuicate the vehicle pursuit, to supervisr or assume adequate control, to take a tactically safe position, to use cover or concealment and to fire numerous rounds appropriately ....
[The eventual conclusion was that] the actions did not rise to the level of policy violations.
Or this one, at a domestic violence call, where an upset man threatened to shoot if the Deputies sicced their police dog on him. They talked to him for a while, then got sick of it and let loose the dog.
CASE:
"...the man stood up with something dark in his hand and made athrowing motion. Numerous LASD personnel wihtin the inner containment fired their weapons, killing both the man and the canine. The dark object turned out to be a slipper.
"...a number of involved personnel had violated policy ... the most grievous performance failure was the lack of communication between the dog handler's supervisor and the perimeter deputies ... the deputies who fired their weapons were not chosen by the on-scene sergeant as 'designated shooters.' "
The deputies were given minor suspensions. They are contesting even that amount of punishment. The case is winding its way through "the system." This is probably the first, and last, that you will ever hear of it.
There is so much, much more. This whole site could be devoted to just one of the pages in this report. Here are some excerpts:
"A deputy, while off-duty, was observed by officers of another police department in the company of a known prostitute and drug dealer ... By the end of the investigation, the deputy and the prostitute had begun to live together, and he called her his 'significant other' ...
This deputy was taped by the woman he arrested, stalked, then helped her beat the rap: "A deputy arrested a female driver for DUIT ... within several hours of releasing her from custody, the deputy began calling her from his cell phone.... the deputy made more than one hundred and twenty (120) calls to the woman ... the motorist taped the conversations and provided the tape to the Deputy District Attorney ... the deputy discussed how he had written his arrest report with intentional ambiguities and suggested how the woman could use those problems with the report for her defense. He later appeared with her for her DMV license suspension hearing...."
Love seems to blossom in jail - especially when the woman is handcuffed and can't resist: "... a deputy approached a female inmate in custody and engaged her in conversation of a personal nature ... hugging her, kissing her forehead and touching her buttocks ... the Department's Internal Crime Investigation Bureau connected a recording device to the inmate's home telephone ... he admitted to touching her inappropriately ... the inmate told the deputy about the criminal investigation and that his admission had been recorded. The deputy went to the inmate's house, seized the audiotape recording of his admission and took the inmate with him to a local store to purchase a new audiotape. The deputy then replaced the original recorded conversations with the new audiotape containing a new staged recording...."
Think cops just arrest people for driving drunk? Think again. By mid-September 2005, more than 18 LASD employees had been arrested for DUI, and this does NOT include the two LASD arrested for public drunkenness or disorderly conduct.
A deputy driving his jetski while totally shit-faced was busted, but "When responding officers attempted to arrest and handcuff him .... struck by the deputy's elbows and fists as the deputy violently broke out of the officers' holds .... sprayed the deputy with OC spray.'
This is not an unique reaction - the Sheriffs seem to feel they are a law unto themselves, and attack officers from other agencies who try to rein them in: "...arrested an LASD deputy for driving under the influence ... had passed out at the wheel ... became belligerent when police officers tried to effectuate their arrest..."
How about sexual misconduct?
One deputy "...threatened to arrest the driver if she did not show him her undergarments ... illuminated her vagina by inserting his flashlight ... stopped a female pedestrian on her way to work ... made a pretext of searching ... had her turn around and pulled the front of her pants away ... threatened to deport her ...
"Stopped another female pedestrian ... found she had a record and threatened to violate her parole unless she cooperated with him. He then told her to pull her pants down and show her underwear ... had her get into his patrol car and pull her pants down ... inserted his finger ... orally copulate ..."
Another: "established a personal relationship with a 17-year-old girl, whom he met while on-duty ... visited her while on-duty and using a Department vehicle ... attended her graduation ... sexual intercourse with her in his office ... falsified his daily logs to indicate that he was at another location..."
This horny guy "...masturbated while on duty . The incident was witnessed by a female colleague. DNA forensic testing established that the seminal fluid recovered at the scene matched DNA obtained from the deputy..."
Someone who watched that godawful Madonna movie Body of Evidence had "...inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor female ... fondled the minor's breasts and inserted his finger into her vagina ... poured hot wax on his body in her presence..."
This scary stalker just couldn't take no for an answer "...after a deputy's relationship with a woman came to an end against his wishes, the woman returned from a weekend trip to find that her home had been vandalized, and that a number of her personal items were missing .... television ruined with bleach and furniture that had been urinated on ... the deputy/ex-boyfriend had improperly fixed a ticket for a friend of hers to get information ... accessed law enforcement databases in order to obtain personal information about her and her new boyfriend...."
Trust a sheriff's deputy around your children?
"...deputy was charged with felony corporal injury to a child resulting in a traumatic condition ... ordered to stay away from the 3-year-old girl he was convicted of abusing ... deputy appealed ... his experts testified that the burst blood vessels in her face were not caused by covering her mouth and asphyxiating the child ... but by the child's crying, sneezing or an infection ... the deputy got his job back."
Sleep tight tonight, L.A. Sleep tight, knowing that the rogue cops out there are all about to get a massive get out of jail free card. Without public outcry, there will be no pressure to enact even the feeble reforms that have been done in the past 20 years since people began waking up to the fact that Gates' boys were up to something down in the 'hood.
www.lavoice.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1451