Friday, September 24, 2010

Misconduct Roundup

Several recent stories related to official misconduct and police discipline caught my eye this morning and deserve Grits readers' attention:
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10 comments:

  1. Anonymous9/24/2010 08:59:00 AM

    Way too much.

    It would be interesting to know whether there is a trend toward increased official misconduct. Is there more? More accusations? More of it reported? Or what?

    lRev. Charles

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  2. Anonymous9/24/2010 09:22:00 AM

    My girl friend was arrested in Galveston County and taken to the Dickenson Municipal Jail temporarily before being transferred approximately 24 hours later to Galveston County. The phone call she made to me from jail cost $25.00 for a 5 minute call. She was on her way to Galveston and was taken to jail for driving while license suspended; this happened in July.
    She was dressed for the beach and when she called she said she had been there for two hours and was freezing to death and that no blankets were provided. I called the jail to see if I could bring clothing so that she didn’t end up with pneumonia and the jailer told me that they purposely treat the prisoners this way (I’m assuming to teach some sort of cruel lesson) and that he would take them some blankets in a little while.
    Understandably she should not have been driving with a suspended driver’s license but in my opinion the jailer and all who run it were felonious in their behavior in comparison to the driving while license suspended offense she had committed due to the driver’s safety responsibility surcharges that she had not been able to pay timely. She has 5 children at home, one that is disabled and requires daily attention, she is also the guardian for her sister who is mentally handicapped and sometimes the surcharges get paid late.

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  3. Anonymous9/24/2010 11:54:00 AM

    I wonder what the numbers would be like if all officers who committed some sort of misconduct were actually disciplined/charged.

    I look back at Dallas Officer Robert Powell lying in court about his reasons for conducting a field sobriety test. His words in court were immediately contradicted by his own words on his dash cam tape. The case he was testilying in was dismissed, but the Denton County DA apparently never even considered bringing charges against Powell for his perjury.

    And even though Powell later resigned from the DPD after the Ryan Moats incident, he's still a police officer in Texas.

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  4. rodsmith9/25/2010 02:28:00 PM

    this was illuminating!

    "She was dressed for the beach and when she called she said she had been there for two hours and was freezing to death and that no blankets were provided. I called the jail to see if I could bring clothing so that she didn’t end up with pneumonia and the jailer told me that they purposely treat the prisoners this way (I’m assuming to teach some sort of cruel lesson) and that he would take them some blankets in a little while."

    I'd have told the cop sounds to me like your a bunch of PERVERTS keeping a women in beach clothing for hours and i'm going to ask the FBI to file sex offence charges against you all if she's not got something to cover her in about 5 mins! and i will hold YOU personally responsible if ANYTHINY! ANYTHING at all happens to her while your getting your jollies!

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  5. Anonymous9/25/2010 07:46:00 PM

    I moved out of Texas a little over a year ago to another state. I recently had a reason to examine the disciplinary actions taken against police officers in my new home state via the state's peace officer licensing website. I was surprised how many actions there were. I don't mean I was surprised that there was a need for that many actions but surprised because, as far as I know, in Texas TCLEOSE (I hope I got the letters right) almost never takes action against a licensee unless there is a criminal conviction. In this state it appears that when an officer is discharged from an agency for a reason that gives cause for concern a report is immediately filed by the agency with the licensing department and that persons license is usually revoked unless they can prove it shouldn't be. That puts a stop to what is going on in Texas with officers being fired from multiple agencies but still working as police officers. While I have not data to base it on, just looking at news articles, it appears that while police misconduct is certainly not non-existent, it doesn't appear to be as pervasive as it is in Texas.

    Of course, if one were to try to implement stricter standards in Texas, the police association lobbies and other law enforcement interest would make sure the legislators were afraid to support it for fear of being branded anti-law enforcement.

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  6. Anonymous9/25/2010 11:05:00 PM

    I suggest that the same statistics be run for lawyers. I'm sure there are just as many lawyers as peace officers in Texas. Try doing a comparison ratio sometime. (Note that the disciplinary actions for lawyers is pretty rare if nonexistent?)

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  7. rodsmith9/26/2010 01:21:00 AM

    "I suggest that the same statistics be run for lawyers. I'm sure there are just as many lawyers as peace officers in Texas. Try doing a comparison ratio sometime. (Note that the disciplinary actions for lawyers is pretty rare if nonexistent?)"

    True BUT last time i looked if your lawyer messed up and you gave him/her some lip about it. they couldnt' yank out a gun and shoot you and then make you out to be the agressor.

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  8. Anonymous9/26/2010 03:40:00 PM

    "True BUT last time i looked if your lawyer messed up and you gave him/her some lip about it. they couldnt' yank out a gun and shoot you and then make you out to be the agressor."

    I seriously doubt that cops are randomly shooting people on the street for merely running their heads in angst. Think we'd have heard about that by now. As much as people want to believe that there is a Dirty Harry on every block, its just not the case. Hell, I'd support further limiting a peace officer's authority to make arrests. But who is going to take over this function? A lawyer? Are we going to put a lawyer out there to stand behind the cop to personnally witness all the violence and chaos cops deal with? No. They're too chickenshit and they'd probably demand three times the compensation as the cop.
    Lawyers are just as responsible for such a high incarceration rate as a direct result of greed bordering on criminal responsibility. The shady "client bartering" that goes on in a DA's office is a perfect example. Trading guilty pleas for ten court appointments while arranging a dismissal for the big money client is an all too common example. Happens every day and the lawyer gets paid either way. And the finger gets pointed at the big oppressive government mob.
    And believe it or not, they protect their own more so than the cops do. Only you don't hear about these things and they don't quite make for such a sexy TV series.
    The laws are out of control and those responsible for protecting our rights throughout the process are compromised. I heard or read somewhere that justice is what you can afford and that is just plain wrong. How true it is, too.

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  9. College Cop9/27/2010 02:35:00 PM

    "Jaw dropping graphic"?

    What exactly is jaw dropping about it. It says what that they (the NPMSRP, which is mainly just that guy packratt) recorded less than 6,000 reports of misconduct.

    6,000, in a country with almost 900,000 cops, a population of more than 310,000,000 people, spread out over 9.8 million miles? Is 6,000 supposed to be some huge number, so huge as to inspire jaw dropping (lol). Yes I kow, 1 is too many, but less than 6,000 reports across a vast country in 14 months is imo not terrible (at least, not 3rd world terrible).

    I'm familiar with the story of the guy who started that project. He was accused of a crime he denies he committed at a punk rock concert, the punk rocker crowd turned him over to police and said he did the crime, he went through legal hell because of that, and perhaps the local police didn't do a great job, but you notice he didn't start a project about punk rock misconduct lol.

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  10. Anonymous9/28/2010 11:03:00 AM

    In the end, does it really matter if 'police misconduct' has taken place? I've dealt with this issue for 4+ years, and without legal counsel, one voice doesn't seem to matter.
    My son, Joshua, 19, was found dead in Amsler Park/McGregor, Tx, on Feb. 16, 2006. McGregor PD did not investigate nor ask me, the mother, any questions before presuming his death to be from sucide.

    The Medical Examiner, without any facts of the crime scene, crime scene photos, officers' statements, ruled Suicide.
    There is no 'etiological specific' cause of death in the autopsy.

    Justice of all???
    Hello! Lies! Justice for those that can afford the legal wranglings of the broken justice system.
    I believe, wholeheartedly, that my son was murdered by police, but to prove this is an entirely different ballgame!
    www.americaiswatching.org {Joshua Robinson} View attached documents, click on underlined phrases.
    The Medical Examiner told me that he had initially ruled Undetermined until receiving a report from Det. Martin, causing him to change the ruling to Suicide. He also said that there was no evidence of strangulation.
    Martin's report:
    "Reportedly, Joshua was a drug user."
    "Joshua and mother fought the previous night."
    "Apparent suicide by chain vs neck."
    Toxicology negative.
    This is the mode that Joshua and I communicated.
    Nothing is apparent in a Criminal Investigation.
    I've been informed that Undetermined should have been ruled, as the ME had no facts to consider in his decision.
    Four of the five officers, on scene, resigned simultaneousl, in June, 2006, only 3+ months after the questionable death.
    McGregor PD will not answer my questions.
    Go figure!

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