Here’s a brief pre-Thanksgiving Smorgasbord of police misconduct from the National Police Misconduct News Feed… (as if there wasn’t already enough to make us sick)
Don’t Tread Investigate On Us!
In Portland Oregon, about 600 police officers, their families, and pals held a protest march against the city and police chief for… well… giving an officer a paid vacation while they investigate whether he violated policy when he shot a 12-year-old girl with a beanbag round from a shotgun at point-blank range. At least some media outlets are calling it like it is, a bunch of thugs protesting against accountability.
After all, the cop isn’t even being punished, just investigated. Which means they are protesting against the city being able to investigate them for allegations of misconduct apparently.
What We Need Is More…?
In Chicago Illinois, the police chief and media are raising the alarm about a potential police retirement wave next year and claiming that the department needs to hire at least 2000 more officers… Heck, Chicago can’t even keep the cops they already have under control, and now they want more?
Oddly missing from all these reports is the fact that, according to 2008 FBI/DOJ UCR numbers, the Chicago Police employ more officers per capita than any of the other top 20 most populated cities. In fact, only one other city employs more cops than Chicago, that’s New York… and they still have less cops per capita with 1 cop for every 233 people while Chicago has 1 cop for every 212.
Don’t believe me? Here’s the numbers:
| City | State | LEO Pop | Population | Citizens per Officer |
| Chicago | IL | 13,359 | 2,829,304 | 211.8 |
| Philadelphia | PA | 6,764 | 1,441,117 | 213.1 |
| New York | NY | 35,761 | 8,345,075 | 233.4 |
| Detroit | MI | 3,032 | 905,783 | 298.7 |
| Memphis | TN | 2,098 | 672,046 | 320.3 |
| San Francisco | CA | 2,391 | 798,144 | 333.8 |
| Dallas | TX | 3,393 | 1,276,214 | 376.1 |
| Los Angeles | CA | 9,743 | 3,850,920 | 395.2 |
| Honolulu | HI | 2,125 | 906,349 | 426.5 |
| Houston | TX | 5,048 | 2,238,895 | 443.5 |
| Charlotte-Mecklenburg | NC | 1,637 | 758,769 | 463.5 |
| Fort Worth | TX | 1,486 | 701,345 | 472.0 |
| Phoenix | AZ | 3,351 | 1,585,838 | 473.2 |
| Jacksonville | FL | 1,693 | 806,080 | 476.1 |
| Indianapolis | IN | 1,590 | 808,329 | 508.4 |
| Austin | TX | 1,466 | 753,535 | 514.0 |
| Las Vegas | NV | 2,530 | 1,353,175 | 534.9 |
| San Antonio | TX | 2,155 | 1,351,244 | 627.0 |
| San Diego | CA | 1,987 | 1,271,655 | 640.0 |
| San Jose | CA | 1,383 | 945,197 | 683.4 |
Would You Like A Souvenir Shirt Too?
Speaking of Chicago, a Chicago PD department chief and a police commander have been given wrist-slaps… er, I mean “official reprimands” for their role in the highly publicized “G-20 Trophy Photo” that was filmed during the G-20 police actions in Pittsburgh PA.
What? You expected real accountability in Chicago? They probably got nice CPD engraved picture frames with the letter of reprimand so they can hang that photo on their mantles.
No Honor Among Thieves Police?
Oh… and yet again from Chicago. The leader of the Chicago Police Sergeant’s Association, a police union for sergeants apparently, has been arrested for allegedly stealing quite a large sum of money from that organization for things like trips to Vegas and a new home. While estimates of what he took were initially pegged at $600,000 that number has now been raised to a cool million.
He’s now out on bail after posting $35k in bail. Wonder if the police union will hold a benefit to support this suspect like they did for the Chicago police officer facing trial for killing two people while driving drunk?
Court Says, Just Roll Over And Play Dead
In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently ruled that, when considering a charge of battery to a law enforcement officer, that the officer need not be acting lawfully for the charge to stand. In other words, even if a police officer is harming you by acting illegally while on-duty within his or her jurisdiction, that you have no right to self-defense.
The case was spurred by an officer who ignored a homeowner who denied that officer the right to search the home but entered anyway, which resulted in a struggle between the officer and a suspect who was convicted of battery on an officer even though the officer was not in the home legally.
My city’s officers did something like this in 1999 after they fired four officers involved in a controversial fatal shooting of a woman. Only before they rallied, about 2/3 of the field operations division shaved their heads in protest. So there were about 200 bald protesting officers. That caused a huge furor, as people said they had adopted the skinhead symbol and it brought the feds into the city. The city didn’t really respond as it spent $350,000 hiring a public relations firm to do its speaking for it.
Rallies like this have appeared in some other places. The officers in my city’s case got paid leave. The officer who outed their racist banter at the scene and other racism got of course…an unpaid leave.
The Wisconsin decision is disturbing. It’s a jury instruction on resisting/battery cases in California but the juries usually ignore it. There was one case I observed however that it did play a role in a not guilty verdict and possibly one other one locally. But even the judge in the latter said that he believed the officer used excessive and unlawful force. That officer is still with the department and still averages about three dozen complaints annually.
FBM,
True enough about the questionable police union thug tactics and bizarre protest marches. Had similar here in Seattle and I’ve seen a few more stories elsewhere recently, like in Philadelphia where the cops protested against a judge who told police they weren’t allowed bring pictures into the court as spectators to sway the jury during a trial.
It goes to prove that public safety is always the furthest thing from a police union’s collective mind…
As for Wisconsin, some states are actually similar in that they grant no exclusion for self-defense against an officer acting illegally… Combine that with lax accountability and it’s a recipe for sanctioned abuse.
Thanks for the comment FBM!
How would a Wisconsin type decision hold up in a castle doctrine state?
Well, each state is different and I’m not clear on whether there are other states that have a castle doctrine along with a similarly worded “assault on an officer” law.
But, I would imagine that it could go either way, state legislators could either craft their assault on an officer law in a way that exempts officers from castle doctrine or not.
It’d be an interesting point to ask a lawyer in your state.
Thanks!
I had an interesting conversation with two IA guys at this trial I’ve been at and I asked them about the union elections and they got uptight. One of them said, you certainly are interested in it and I said politics and elections fascinate me and they were like, police union elections? Because as far as municipal elections are concerned, the police union’s decision making process on endorsements was very interesting this year given that it fractured the leadership. And the winner of the election will have a great impact on police issues for the next two years or longer.
And I said, especially. Then they said they didn’t really follow it. Another IA sergeant had resigned from the board because of the perception of having an IA person on there. But IA wants to look like they’re separate from everyone else but they seem more cozy with the rank and file in this agency than in some others.
Even as police unions become more and more influential in local and state politics (and even federal as seen with the “beer summit” fiasco, that still has legs) people still aren’t interested in them for a couple reasons. First is that there really isn’t much that can be done from outside of law enforcement to influence police union politics, they do what they want without regard to what the public thinks of it. Second, I think most people still aren’t aware of just how powerful police unions are becoming and how influential they are, not only about police accountability issues, but politics as a whole as well.
As for IA personnel resigning from police union boards, I don’t think that really does much in factual terms for removing any potential bias, after all, the officer is still a union member even though that officer resigned from the board. Unions project a lot of pressure on internal affairs officers, especially when those officers are recruited from the rank and file.
All one has to do to see it is look at any police union publication where they excoriate internal affairs staff and call them rats when they find against, or even just investigate, a fellow officer. This is especially true here in Seattle where investigators are pulled from patrols to work stints in IA. That hardly makes them independent and unbiased, even if you do move them into a different building. Having officers investigate fellow officers they worked with or answered calls with isn’t going to result in a fair and impartial investigation, even if that investigator resigns from a union board.
Thanks for the comment FBM, always appreciated!
Hmmm. If they weren’t white one could almost mistake those Portland cops for gang members. After all they’re wearing their gang colors, and they’re aggressively defending against someone who messed with one of their much beloved “”homies”", despite the fact he has a questionable history of violence.
Although I do like one of their signs, “SAFTEY, Not Politics”. LOL of course these brave tough guys are referring to their OWN safety, not the safety of the people or the feeling of safety that many should but do NOT feel towards their police. All in a case involving an overweight 12 year old little girl no less!
The sad thing is I think some of these cops are just so over-the-top stupid and completely brainwashed with the “us against them mentality” that they can’t even see what they’re doing. It’s the “we need to stick together and if the people DARE question the actions of ONE of us then they are coming against ALL of us!” Then they wonder why they’re given the moniker of an animal that rolls around in filth?
This just goes to show you, in addition to a strong propensity towards violence, cops are not very bright. Here in Portland they can’t even see that they’re being used in a political (union vs. management ) bully tactic….
Well, as one police union board member located near me was once quoted as saying to an alleged motorcycle group member, cops are the largest gang in the US. Actions like this in response to an investigation, not disciplinary action, but a simple investigation just go to prove that statement right in the worst possible light.
I wonder if there’s any way for the general public to get ahold of some of these police union newsletters? I have a feeling they might be an “interesting” read.
Some police unions put them on the internet, like the Seattle police guild does… and yes, it often is interesting/disturbing reading filled with rants against police accountability activists, political leaders, and internal affairs officers or those who cooperate with them (aka “rats”).
I used to read the police union newsletters with a bull horn in front of City Hall while protesting about 10 years ago as they were pretty interesting. Needless to say, they were removed from online pretty quickly. I don’t think they’re publicly available anymore but they circulate them internally and I’ve heard they’re very interesting and colorful. Though they did have a political Web site during one year’s labor negotiations during a period where they were locked out by City Hall. The Web site was more tongue in cheek about politics than police disciplinary issues. They had a “scandal sheet” which I clicked to see what was in it and found excerpts from an old blog I created that focused on City Hall and had promptly forgotten about.
As soon as they had a contract, the political site went offline. But there’s friction between the union leadership and a lot of police officers for varying reasons. Some reflect the changing demographics of the department which is very young (versus more senior) and conflicts between the two bargaining units within the police union. It will be interesting to see how the union rebounds as it surely will. It’s been through these cycles before. Probably during the next contract negotiations cycle in a year or so. They donate more to local and state politicians but there’s been conflict on the PAC to the point where last year, members resigned because of the endorsement process for one local election.
I’ve heard the IA in my city’s department is ostracized (and it’s housed in the same building as a field division so that could be pretty tense)but they seem in some cases, with some sergeants (and most are pulled out of field) being pretty cozy with other officers. It’s a small agency so there’s not much separation except for management vs rank and file. They’re really informal with each other.
Some sergeants go in there to get promoted to lieutenant and are told they can promote faster if they “burn” someone as it’s called and they’re less trusted by other officers as being “rats” for management. Some do seem to promote faster after high-profile internal investigations (an oxymoron in a state like California but some do get some public exposure). But promotions are stalled now for the foreseeable so that might be less of an incentive unless they resolve the mayor vs the city manager vs the police chief dynamic playing out now. Others are especially steeped in the culture and it’s obvious if you’re interviewed or spend time with them in training including one that was conducted by the independent counsel of another LE agency. I think both situations are problematic.
I think I’ve met one or two IA sergeants so far in 10 years who were probably in there for the right reasons. Who could really do the investigations fairly and objectively and provide some sense of confidence for the community members whose investigations were handled with them and it appears some officers too. But they also put a guy in there who had been investigated for criminal conduct before his assignment in that unit and that definitely doesn’t appear to be a commitment to integrity.
The department’s IA sticks mostly to internal investigations, deaths and shootings and some serious complaints called category ones. About 70% of all complaints are farmed out to field sergeants and they’re not surprisingly more biased than those done by IA sergeants. The only changes we could get is that the complaints wouldn’t be assigned to the same field sergeants who supervise the officers and may be part of the complaint.
Wow, roll over and play dead. That is some straight up bs.