Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 28, 2006 14:15:23 GMT -5
01/28/2006 - The Broward Sheriff's Office has fired a Deerfield Beach detective for lying after the department concluded he blamed crimes on a man who was in jail when they happened.
Deputy Kevin McClure, 31, was terminated Tuesday for not meeting the department's standards and being untruthful, according to the internal investigation. McClure becomes the eighth Broward Sheriff's Office employee criminally charged or fired in connection with the skewing of crime stats and improper clearing of crimes.
McClure has worked at the Sheriff's Office since 1999. In 2003 and early 2004, while working as a detective in Pompano Beach, he pinned 17 property crimes on Marc Anderson, a Deerfield Beach man with an admitted drug habit, according to the investigation report. But two of the crimes Anderson was blamed for, burglaries to a storage bay and to a van, happened when Anderson was in the Miami-Dade jail on an unrelated drug charge, the report says.
Though a personnel committee in 2004 initially suggested McClure be only suspended for five days, the department's administrators decided to fire him this week.
"He had demonstrated a repeated pattern of untruthfulness, and this is not the kind of employee that we want at the Broward Sheriff's Office," said spokesman Elliot Cohen.
McClure and his attorney could not be reached for comment Friday. His disciplinary record was unavailable.
On Jan. 22, 2004, the detective filed paperwork that blamed the 17 crimes on Anderson, according to the internal investigation. Three months later, internal investigators learned Anderson was in jail when two of those crimes were committed. In May 2004, Anderson told investigators he never spoke with McClure and couldn't have committed at least two of the crimes.
That spring, Sheriff Ken Jenne publicly admitted there were widespread problems at the Sheriff's Office with the department's improper classification and clearance of crimes.
One of the problems was the misapplication of an "exceptional clearance." That type of clearance is supposed to be used when detectives have essentially solved a crime, but cannot make an arrest for a reason beyond their control. An example is when a suspect dies before being arrested or a victim refuses to cooperate.
Instead, some deputies exceptionally cleared crimes by making up confessions and falsely blaming crimes on people in their custody.
Six deputies accused of the practice have been charged with crimes; two have pleaded guilty.
Deputy Edwin Arias was sentenced to three years' probation in December for, among other falsifications, pinning a car break-in on a dead man. Deputy Joe Isabella was fired in April 2005 and Deputy Scott Jordan in June amid allegations of falsifying records. Isabella later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Jordan has not been charged.
Criminal charges of official misconduct have also been filed against deputies Chris Thieman, Lee Martin, Shane Campbell and Christian Zapata.
Cohen said McClure's firing shows that the Sheriff's Office continues to police its own employees and weed out problem deputies.
"This is cleaning house and taking care of business," Cohen said. "The way the system is supposed to work."
Deputy Kevin McClure, 31, was terminated Tuesday for not meeting the department's standards and being untruthful, according to the internal investigation. McClure becomes the eighth Broward Sheriff's Office employee criminally charged or fired in connection with the skewing of crime stats and improper clearing of crimes.
McClure has worked at the Sheriff's Office since 1999. In 2003 and early 2004, while working as a detective in Pompano Beach, he pinned 17 property crimes on Marc Anderson, a Deerfield Beach man with an admitted drug habit, according to the investigation report. But two of the crimes Anderson was blamed for, burglaries to a storage bay and to a van, happened when Anderson was in the Miami-Dade jail on an unrelated drug charge, the report says.
Though a personnel committee in 2004 initially suggested McClure be only suspended for five days, the department's administrators decided to fire him this week.
"He had demonstrated a repeated pattern of untruthfulness, and this is not the kind of employee that we want at the Broward Sheriff's Office," said spokesman Elliot Cohen.
McClure and his attorney could not be reached for comment Friday. His disciplinary record was unavailable.
On Jan. 22, 2004, the detective filed paperwork that blamed the 17 crimes on Anderson, according to the internal investigation. Three months later, internal investigators learned Anderson was in jail when two of those crimes were committed. In May 2004, Anderson told investigators he never spoke with McClure and couldn't have committed at least two of the crimes.
That spring, Sheriff Ken Jenne publicly admitted there were widespread problems at the Sheriff's Office with the department's improper classification and clearance of crimes.
One of the problems was the misapplication of an "exceptional clearance." That type of clearance is supposed to be used when detectives have essentially solved a crime, but cannot make an arrest for a reason beyond their control. An example is when a suspect dies before being arrested or a victim refuses to cooperate.
Instead, some deputies exceptionally cleared crimes by making up confessions and falsely blaming crimes on people in their custody.
Six deputies accused of the practice have been charged with crimes; two have pleaded guilty.
Deputy Edwin Arias was sentenced to three years' probation in December for, among other falsifications, pinning a car break-in on a dead man. Deputy Joe Isabella was fired in April 2005 and Deputy Scott Jordan in June amid allegations of falsifying records. Isabella later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Jordan has not been charged.
Criminal charges of official misconduct have also been filed against deputies Chris Thieman, Lee Martin, Shane Campbell and Christian Zapata.
Cohen said McClure's firing shows that the Sheriff's Office continues to police its own employees and weed out problem deputies.
"This is cleaning house and taking care of business," Cohen said. "The way the system is supposed to work."