SOURCES:
CALIFORNIA INNOCENCE PROJECT: Police misconduct statistics gathered by the Cato Institute's National Police Misconduct Reporting Project confirm that around 1% of all police officers commit police misconduct in a given year and that the consequences of such misconduct are grim. Keith Findley from the Wisconsin Innocence Project conducted a study and found that police misconduct was a factor in as many as 50% of wrongful convictions involving DNA evidence. http://californiainnocenceproject.org/issues-we-face/police-misconduct?gclid=COnR4oj6xLsCFRRefgodfAkAxA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hundreds of Cases of Misconduct Costing Tax Payers millions of dollars: http://www.policemisconduct.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beck facing rare criticism Improper use of force is tolerated too often, police panel says Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck is under fire from his civilian bosses, who increasingly are troubled by his reluctance to punish officers they found had killed or wounded people unjustifiably. "If this pattern continues, it could undermine the entire discipline system and undermine the authority of the commission," said Robert Saltzman, a member of the Police Commission and associate dean at USC's law school. "It runs the risk of sending the message to officers that there will be no consequences." http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/16/local/la-me-beck-discipline-20120416 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New L.A. County sheriff watchdog role is filled L.A. County supervisors select Max Huntsman, a lead prosecutor in the Bell corruption case, as inspector general. A corruption-tackling prosecutor has been selected to head a new agency that will scrutinize the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, with the power to conduct investigations inside the troubled jails and elsewhere. Creating the office of inspector general was one of the key recommendations last year of a blue-ribbon commission that investigated allegations of violence inside the nation's largest jail system. The commission, which included several former judges and a police chief, concluded that there was a pattern of excessive force by deputies in the county jails. The panel called for an inspector general who would report to the Board of Supervisors and provide independent oversight of the Sheriff's Department, conducting its own investigations, monitoring jail conditions and reviewing the department's audits and inspections. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/26/local/la-me-sheriff-watchdog-20131127 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A former San Jose police officer was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for molesting his 11-month-old daughter. Stephen Gallagher, 49, faced up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of lewd acts on a child under 14. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SAN-JOSE-Ex-police-officer-gets-5-years-for-2671736.php ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Resident calls for probe of Atherton police Jonathan Buckheit won a 'declaration of factual innocence' after his arrest by Andrea Gemmet / Almanac "I was falsely arrested in a domestic dispute in which I called 911," Buckheit told The Almanac. No charges were brought against Buckheit in the domestic violence call that involved Buckheit and a woman, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. "It was not sufficient (evidence) to prosecute, but it was not a case where we would agree to declaration of factual innocence," Wagstaffe said. When Buckheit sought a copy of the police report from his arrest, both the Atherton Police Department and the San Mateo County District Attorney's office refused to give it to him, he said. Then-city Attorney Marc Hynes told him he was not entitled to the police report, Buckheit said. "I was the one who received physical injuries during the incident, so I was entitled to it," he said. Eight months later, Buckheit said he finally got the report, but only after he filed a lawsuit to get it. He was awarded almost $8,000 in legal fees and damages in that case, he said. "The most disturbing thing is that they were trying to block my access to even apply for factual innocence," Buckheit said. "If there's no police report, you can't argue with the judge that you're factually innocent." http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2010/02/02/resident-calls-for-probe-of-atherton-police --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Buckheit case: Investigator clears Atherton police officers Mr. Buckheit's complaint stated that Officer Dean DeVlugt changed the police report hours after Officer Tony Dennis submitted it -- a change that falsely stated that a young boy who was present during the domestic dispute had been physically assaulted by Mr. Buckheit. The investigation, conducted by a former police chief of a small California town, Pete Peterson, also looked at whether an officer or officers violated the law prohibiting officers from falsifying "any report, official record or official communication (oral, written, electronic)." Mr. Peterson, who was chosen by Chief Guerra to conduct the investigation over the protests of Mr. Buckheit and other Atherton residents, concluded that "the investigation conclusively proved that the act or acts complained of did not occur," according to the letter. Although it is unclear whether Mr. Peterson's complete report will be made available to the public, Mr. Buckheit has reviewed a copy of it. He said that Mr. Peterson blamed limitations of the computer system used for filing police reports for the addition of false information in the report on Mr. Buckheit's arrest. Mr. Buckheit called the police for help, reporting that he had been assaulted by his then-girlfriend, who lived at the residence. Although Mr. Buckheit was the person with visible injuries, he was arrested. During the trial, Judge Mark Forcum stated that "there's absolutely no basis to believe that Mr. Buckheit ever laid a finger on the child," according to the court transcript. Last March, Chief Guerra asked the county District Attorney's Office to investigate the police report-alteration matter — a move opposed by Mr. Buckheit, who called it "totally inappropriate." Because his lawsuit names the county, "and that includes the D.A.," how can that office "pass judgment on the wrongfulness of what was done to me?" he said last spring. "The D.A. has a vested interest in not exposing the wrongdoing." http://www.almanacnews.com/print/story/2011/01/26/investigator-clears-atherton-police ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ San Diego Harbor Police Profile, Harass, Detain and File False Reports on American Jewish Photographer Next, Officer Nicol asked me if I “had traveled outside the country recently.” It hit me like a ton of bricks that these officers were profiling me based on a perceived religion or ethnicity. Nicol proceeded to ask me what countries I travel to. “What?” I asked him. I began wondering to myself what these were cops up to. Nearly 40 minutes later, the intimidation and interrogation officers left, telling me not to touch my phone or keychain until they were over 100 feet away. As they walked away, a patrol car pulled up and one officer leaned into the window to talk. The officer pointed in my direction, laughing about something as he talked to an officer in the patrol car. I did not even have the chance to present the details of the illegal search, detainment and other civil rights violations the San Diego Harbor police officers committed before the ticket was dismissed. http://www.copblock.org/36902/san-diego-harbor-police-profile-harass-detain-and-file-false-reports-on-american-jewish-photographer/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Menlo Park Police and San Mateo District Attorney Conspire to Destroy Exculpatory Evidence: Charles Podaras was convicted by the San Mateo District Attorney of felony battery and misdemeanor assault. Mr. Podaras was denied the use of the 911 recording of the incident during his trial a tape that Mr. Podaras claims would exonerate him of the charges levied against him by the police and prosecutors. On appeal, Mr. Podaras’ conviction was overturned by the DA’s appeals board for improper jury instructions. Rather than prosecute Mr. Podaras the DA’s office dropped all of the charges against Mr. Podaras a month later. Apparently the DA’s office did not want to prosecute Mr. Podaras if Mr. Podaras was going to be able to use the 911 tape. It is clear that Mr. Podaras should not have been prosecuted in the first place given the fact that the DA dropped the charges against him. It is clear that the Menlo Park police and DA created a false crime scene for the judge and jury by simply excluding evidence from case rendering all of the other evidence out of context enabling the police and prosecutors to twist the out of context evidence to create a false reality in order to wrongfully incriminate Mr. Podaras. Rather than prosecute Mr. Podaras a second time enabling Mr. Podaras to obtain the 911 tapes exposing the falsehoods used by the police and prosecutor the District Attorney and the Menlo Park police conspired together to destroy the 911 tapes a violation of California Penal Code 135. If there were an independent investigators available to document the 911 recording Mr. Podaras would have never been prosecuted. If there were independent prosecutors available, members of the DA's office and the Menlo Park police would be facing charges for violating Penal Code 135 by destroying the 911 tapes. Source: Pages 1 and 30 of Thursday’s, December 19, 2013 Daily Post, (Palo Alto), ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Off Duty Cop Threatens Citizen With Gun Over Parking Dispute: According to federal judge, an off duty police officer wearing plain clothes who is not in possession of his firearm or badge has the right to destroy property because his is angry and has the right to threaten citzens with physical violence because he is instigating and escalating a non violent situation into a violent one and that the citizen who is threatened with physical violence does not have the right to protect him or herself from such violence. http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021513862_sargentarguments1xml.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Modesto pays $120K to settle lawsuit over warrant-less search of home Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2013/04/17/2674148/modesto-pays-120k-fine-to-settle.html#storylink=cpy By Kevin Valine MODESTO — Modesto has paid $120,000 to a woman and her two adult daughters to settle a lawsuit they filed against the city after police officers entered their home without a warrant, refused to leave when asked and threatened to arrest the woman Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2013/04/17/2674148/modesto-pays-120k-fine-to-settle.html#storylink=cpy http://www.modbee.com/2013/04/17/2674148/modesto-pays-120k-fine-to-settle.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Judge dismisses assault case, criticizes Seattle police investigation By Jennifer Sullivan Seattle Times staff reporter A King County judge has thrown out a criminal case involving the alleged assault of a Seattle police gang detective after finding the investigation was the most "poorly investigated" she's seen in her 22 years on the bench. DuBuque criticized Seattle police for a lack of officer and witness statements on the incident and for failing to follow a department protocol requiring all patrol cars to activate their dashboard cameras when they stopped to investigate the alleged assault, Donohoe said. She also criticized Seattle gang detectives for investigating the case when a member of the gang unit was the alleged victim. Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office, said the assault charge against Rengo was dismissed with prejudice and will not be refiled. The judge found "that the investigation [by police] was deficient," Donohoe said. http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2014882862_cobane27m.html |
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