IT Audit Kansas 2020

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August 29, Newsletter

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Current Events

Upcoming training: Current event news articles listed below training section. 

Schedule

Feb 11-13, 2020 Introduction to Law Enforcement Inspections and Auditing Course – LEIA-101, Phoenix, AZ
Feb 26-28, 2020 Introduction to Internal Affairs Investigations Course # IA-101, Portland, OR
Mar 10-12, 2020 Introduction to Law Enforcement Inspections and Auditing Course – LEIA-101, Portland, OR
Mar 17-19, 2020 Introduction to Law Enforcement Inspections and Auditing Course – LEIA-101, Kansas City, MO
Mar 24-26, 2020 Introduction to Law Enforcement Inspections and Auditing Course – LEIA-101 , West Palm Beach, FL
Mar 24-26, 2020 Introduction To Jail Inspections and Audits – JIA-101, Carrollton, TX (Dallas Area)
Apr 7-10, 2020 Law Enforcement Inspections and Auditing Certificate (LEIAC)™ Course # LEIA-201, Phoenix, AZ
Apr 14-16, 2020 Introduction to Internal Affairs Investigations Course # IA-101, Hamilton Township, OH
May 5-7, 2020 Introduction to Internal Affairs Investigations Course # IA-101, Peoria, AZ
October 26-27, 2020 Law Enforcement Audits for Government Auditors Course – LEIA-301, Chesapeake, VA

Aug 9: Police are now a leading cause of death among young American men  

If you’re a young man in America today – and especially a young black man – you might want to give law enforcement a wide berth. A new study found that shootings, choke holds, and other uses of force by police officers, whether warranted or not, are now the sixth-highest cause of death for males between the ages of 25 and 29.

The study, conducted by researchers at Rutgers University-Newark and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also found that black men are two-and-a-half times more likely to be killed by law enforcement over their lifetime than white men, and that African-American women, American Indian/Alaska native men and women, and Latino men also face higher odds of dying at police hands.

The study recommends the creation of more social welfare and public health programs, adequate funding of community-based services, and restrictions on the use of armed officers as first responders in the kinds of crisis situations where police killings have occurred. “What we lack in this country,” said the study’s lead author, Frank Edwards, an assistant professor at the university’s School of Criminal Justice, in a Rutgers press release, “are the solid estimates of police related deaths because there is no official database where this information is stored.”

Link to study: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/07/30/1821204116

Aug 9: Local law enforceNebrasksa TV Featrues: ment using app inspired by Las Vegas shooting

KEARNEY, Neb. — Kevin Angell, a military veteran and former law enforcement officer created an app after a mass shooting left his former colleagues searching for answers.

“I happened to be in Las Vegas when the Route 91 shootings happened,” said Angell. The app is free to download but it does come at a cost to law enforcement. According to Angell, it is ten cents per person per year within their coverage area. Schleusener said they received a grant covering those costs for a 15 county region for three years.

Aug 9: Chicago police chief uses dirty data to blame gun violence on bond reform

One of the challenges of releasing data: Lt. Dan

Supt. Eddie Johnson’s misleading new portal on gun offenders reinforces his distorted view of how our justice system is supposed to work.

August 9: California cops release graphic video of deadly stabbing spree

New York Post:  Graphic video released Thursday shows a crazed gang member using two large knives to slash a female office worker during a stabbing rampage in…

Aug 9: Can we fix 911

Community paramedicine is changing the way some places respond to health emergencies.

Governing: But nearly a third of the times an ambulance or a fire truck speeds by to answer a 911 call, there is no actual emergency. The number of 911 callers who don’t need to go to a hospital emergency department sits at around 30 percent, according to Kevin McGinnis of the National Association of State EMS Officials.

Community paramedicine programs, sometimes referred to as mobile health care, work to address the underlying causes of why someone called 911. If the caller would be better served in a non-emergency room setting, they’ll take her there. If the responders can dress a non-urgent wound and book an appointment the next day with a caller’s primary care provider, they’ll do that.

Aug 9: FBI Surveillance Proposal Sets Up Clash With Facebook

Wall Street Journal: Agency solicits vendor proposals to collect data from Facebook, other social media to head off safety threats

Aug 9: Arizona police slam racial bias training: “Absolute worst training I’ve ever had”

CBS News reached out to more than 150 departments in big cities nationwide. At least 69% of the departments said they’ve added training that teaches officers how to manage unconscious biases we all have – including race.

 

More than half (57%) of those say they’ve added bias training since Ferguson. But when asked if it works, most say they don’t have a way to measure success – and some officers even said it’s made their jobs harder.

“The content was the absolute worst training I’ve ever had,” said a Mesa, Arizona, police officer, who is white. CBS News agreed to hide the faces and alter the voices of two white officers from the district so that they could speak freely.

Aug 7: Seattle police chief overturns misconduct finding against officer who allowed excessive dog bite

Seattle Times: Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best has overturned a misconduct finding against a K-9 officer who broke department rules when he let his police dog bite a robbery suspect’s arm for more than 30 seconds after the man had been taken to the ground, newly released records show.

Link to Seattle Office of Police Accountability, case summary: https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/OPA/ClosedCaseSummaries/2018OPA-1037ccs073019.pdf

Aug 8: Texas police department apologizes after photos emerge of officers on horseback leading a …

Q13 FOX: A Texas police department is apologizing for its treatment of an African-American man that the police chiefsaid caused the man “unnecessary …

Aug 7: NJ Unveils New Program To Combat Growing Problem Of Police Suicides

TRENTON (WCBS 880) — The New Jersey Attorney General on Tuesday announced a plan to help curb the rising number of police suicides in the state.

Aug 7: The Signs Within: Suicide Prevention Education and Awareness

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) developed this publication as a resource for law enforcement agencies to help prevent officer suicide. The publication describes a variety of suicide prevention and awareness training programs and discusses strategies such as peer counseling, mentoring, employee assistance programs, and the use of staff psychologists. In addition, readers will find a checklist, which managerial staff can use to identify signs of stress.

Aug 7: Building Capacity: How Police Departments Can Drive Positive Change Without Federal Investigation

Lots of great info and ideas on generally accepted practices from the DOJ consent decrees.  Broken down into UOF, stops, searches, seizures and biased policing. Lt. Dan

This report by the Crime and Justice Institute seeks to translate lessons learned across 20 years of consent decrees into an accessible checklist for police executives to proactively enhance their departments and strengthen community partnerships without the cost, scrutiny, and disruption of federal oversight.

Aug 7: How can government build public trust around facial recognition technology?

StateScoop: “Law enforcement agencies should be transparent in how they use the technology to maintain positive relationships with their communities. Involving residents throughout the process of implementing it can eliminate some of that fear of how complex technologies like facial recognition will be used.” — Maureen McGough, Director of National Programs, National Police Foundation

Aug 7: Dodge County Sheriff’s Office review suggests changes

Daily Citizen: JUNEAU — A study of the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office has resulted in a handful of recommendations, including the addition of some staff and changes in work schedules. Final report not available at this time.––

Aug 7: Seattle police chief overturns misconduct finding against officer who allowed excessive dog bite

Seattle Times: Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best has overturned a misconduct finding against a K-9 officer who broke department rules when he let his police dog bite a robbery suspect’s arm for more than 30 seconds after the man had been taken to the ground, newly released records show.

Link to Seattle Office of Police Accountability, case summary: https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/OPA/ClosedCaseSummaries/2018OPA-1037ccs073019.pdf

Aug 6: Chicago police communications operators used FMLA for ‘booze cruise’

HR Dive: Three police communications operators in Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications used intermittent leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to take a Caribbean cruise together in July 2017 — and two of the three took 10 cruises using sick leave and/or FMLA dating as far back as 2010, the city’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed in a 2019 second quarter report.

Link to report: https://igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/OIG-Second-Quarter-2019-Report.pdf

Aug 5: Baltimore County agrees to pay $1.1M to settle lawsuit alleging excessive police force in death of 21-year-old

Baltimore Sun: Baltimore County has agreed to pay more than $1.1 million to settle a federal lawsuit brought by the family of a young Middle River man who died in 2016, days after an encounter with county police officers and emergency medical workers . The $1,150,000 settlement with the family of 21-year-old Tawon Boyd is among the largest the county has reached in a lawsuit alleging excessive force by police.

Aug 5: Pa. State Police official in wake of Chadds Ford incident: All 11 racial profiling claims last year were unfounded, motivated largely by anger

by Mensah M. Dean, Philadelphia Inquirer: August 5, 2019

Aug 5: Facial recognition leads cops to alleged rapist in under 24 hours

NY Post: Police used controversial facial-recognition technology to track down an accused rapist fewer than 24 hours after he tried to force a woman into sex at knife-point on Friday, cops said.  Civil liberties advocates have cautioned the tech could lead to false arrests, but law enforcement experts say the tech is a “boon” for Big Apple cops hunting down alleged creeps like 27-year-old Maximiliano Mejia before they strike again.

Aug 4: Ex-detective fined $200 after hindering prosecution plea

San Francisco Chronicle: PITTSBURGH (AP) — A former Pittsburgh homicide detective accused of filing false police reports and evidence-tampering has been fined $200 after …

Aug 3: Stricter enforcement, increased compliance found following Missouri sex offender audit

khqa.com: The progress, which comes after an audit of the sex offender registration program last October, is detailed in a follow-up report released today by the …

Link to audit follow up report: https://app.auditor.mo.gov/Repository/Press/2019056446600.pdf

Link to original audit report: https://app.auditor.mo.gov/Repository/Press/2018106384917.pdf

Aug 2: Minneapolis police chief promises ‘transformational’ change as staffing debate continues

He eyes “transformational” policies, as police staffing complicates budget talks.

Aug 2: A Texas officer kills a woman while shooting at an unrestrained dog, police say––

CNN: A Texas police officer trying to shoot at a barking dog killed the woman he was there to help during a welfare check, authorities say.

Aug 2: Videotape All Police Interrogations

The New York Times: New York now requires the police to record the entire interrogation for serious crimes. But half the states have no such requirement, leaving the most …

August 2: Good News! VIDEO: State trooper saves small child choking on chicken nugget

News 5: By: Drew Scofield, DELAWARE, Ohio — An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper’s heroic actions last month saved the life of a toddler in Central Ohio.

Aug 2: OIG Finds No Evidence of Racial Discrimination at Orlando Airport

HSToday: A review by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) did not identify evidence to corroborate allegations that a Transportation Security Administration …

Link to OIG Report: https://www.oig.dhs.gov/news/press-releases/2019/08022019/dhs-oig-completes-review-allegations-discrimination-orlando-airport

August 2: Oakland police under-report use-of-force, department audit finds

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) – A new report from the Oakland Police Department’s Office of the Inspector General concludes that in nearly half the cases reviewed, officers under-reported when they used force to detain someone and that police were much quicker to use force on African-Americans and Latinos.

Link to OIG report: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/police/documents/report/oak072446.pdf

Link to Oakland PD response to report: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/police/documents/report/oak072447.pdf

Aug 2: Cops Are Offering Ring Doorbell Cameras in Exchange for Info

WIRED:  It sends cops pre-scripted talking points to publish on social media, and canned outreach messages to post on Neighbors. The company also asks …

Aug 2: Law enforcement suicides up 24 percent in 2019, advocacy group says

Courtesy Karen Solomon(NEW YORK) —  When an off-duty New York City police officer shot and killed himself in his home on Staten Island as reported by WABC last week, it was the department’s fifth suicide since June and the seventh this year — part of what law enforcement advocates are calling an increasingly disturbing problem nationwide.  According to statistics just released by Blue H.E.L.P. a nonprofit organization that tracks law enforcement suicides, 114 officers nationwide have taken their lives so far in 2019, as of Aug. 1.

Aug 1: Former Florida deputy accused of falsifying drug arrests is being held on a $1 million bond

CNN: Over the 11 months he was working as a deputy in Martin County, O’Leary made 86 drug arrests, according to a 47-page investigative report. Some of those, the report said, were people being wrongly arrested and held in jail for several days.

In January, a crime lab found that substances from three cases that O’Leary submitted as evidence were not drugs. According to the report, investigators found a “broken figurine” that appeared to be a religious statue in the trunk of a sheriff’s office vehicle O’Leary had used. The figurine was made from a similar substance to that which O’Leary had identified as crack cocaine in two cases, according to the report. A lab test found that the “statue was comprised of gypsum,” the report said.

Aug 1: Police chief: Officer faked shooting, distress call

Unfortunately this is not the first and won’t be the last of these type incidetns.  As IA/Inspections/oversight we you must always “trust but verify”. Lt. Dan

By Associated Press: BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama police officer staged a shooting last month to make it look like he was under attack, a police chief said Thursday. Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said that Officer Keith Buchanan made a distress call early July 21 while patrolling an isolated area. Shots could be heard in the background, and an abandoned police car was later found with a bullet hole. He was later found moaning on the ground.

Aug 1: Police officers’ exposure to peers accused of misconduct shapes their subsequent behavior

NORTHWESTERN NOW: A new Northwestern University study investigated how Chicago police officers’ exposure to peers who had been accused of misconduct shaped their involvement in subsequent excessive force cases.

“We found that officers who were involved in complaints related to this type of force were more likely to work with officers with a history of such behaviors, suggesting that officers’ peers may serve as social conduits through which misconduct is learned and transmitted,” said Andrew V. Papachristos, senior author of the study and professor of sociology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern and faculty fellow at the University’s Institute for Policy Research.

July 31: OIG PUBLIC SAFETY SECTION FINDS THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS NOT COMPLIED WITH REQUIREMENTS FOR BODY-WORN CAMERA RANDOM

Link to OIG Report. Also posted on LEAIG Library: https://igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CPDs-Random-Reviews-of-Body-Worn-Camera-Recordings.pdf

July 31:  Follow Up Inquiry: Review of the chicago police department’s management of school resource officers follow-up inquiry

 

Original Report: REVIEW OF THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT’S MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS FOLLOW-UP INQUIRY

 

July 31: Marital infidelity and professional misconduct linked, study shows

Here is an interesting study that singles out police officer in addition to other vocations. Lt. Dan

University of Texas at Austin: The researchers investigated four study groups totaling 11,235 individuals using data on police officers from the Citizens Police Data Project, data on financial advisers from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority BrokerCheck database, data on defendants in SEC cases from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s litigation release archives, and data on CEOs and CFOs from Execucomp.

July 31: DoD’s IG office staffing up data analytics team to ‘proactively look for fraud’

Federal News Network: The Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General is looking to data analytics and artificial intelligence tools to respond more quickly to the flood of calls it gets from its whistleblower hotline every year — and to stay ahead of fraud before getting a call about it.

July 31: new body cam video raising questions about how equipped police are to deal with the mentally ill

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/new-body-cam-video-raising-questions-about-how-equipped-police-are-to-deal-with-the-mentally-ill-65010757833

July 31: Jury finds El Cajon officer not negligent in Alfred Olango’s shooting death

By ALEX RIGGINS: The jury took about an hour Wednesday to find Officer Richard Gonsalves was not negligent.  EL CAJON —  A jury in a civil trial unanimously found Wednesday that El Cajon police Officer Richard Gonsalves was not negligent when he shot and killed Alfred Olango in 2016. The last moments of the encounter were caught on camera and showed officers closing in on Olango, who then raised his two hands together, shoulder high, clutching an object in his hands, which was later revealed to be a silver vaping device. His legs were spread in what authorities called a “shooting stance.”

July 29: NYPD cops stun and swarm knife-wielding man who walks through precinct’s front doors

Good job by NYPD on a suicide by cop attempt! Lt. Dan

July 29: Officer steals counterfeit money from PD evidence room and spends it at a Dollar Store

The State.com: A South Carolina police officer was behind bars after she was accused of stealing counterfeit money from her department and spending it at dollar stores, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said Wednesday.

Sallica Rose Williams failed to fulfill her duties as a member of the Kingstree Police Department, according to an arrest warrant.

From July 5-8, the 46-year-old Bishopville resident took counterfeit $100 bills from the evidence section at her police department, according to the arrest warrant.

July 29: Chicago OIG: Follow up: The Chicago police department’s compliance with the firearm owners identification card act follow-up inquiry

Original report: April 2018: https://igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/CPD-FOID-Card-Act-Compliance-Evaluation-Follow-Up-Inquiry.pdf

July 29: Chicago OIG: REVIEW OF THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT’S “GANG DATABASE”. https://igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/OIG-CPD-Gang-Database-Review.pdf

July 29: Chicago OIG: RECOMMENDATIONS TO INFORM AND IMPROVE CPD’S INTERNAL AFFAIRS INVESTIGATIONS. https://igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Recommendations-to-Inform-and-Improve-CPDs-Internal-Affairs-Investigations.pdf

July 29: Chicago OIG published Jan 2019: MANAGEMENT ALERT ON THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT’S ADMINISTRATION OF THE DISCIPLINARY GRIEVANCE PROCESS. https://igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/CPD-Disciplinary-Grievance-Management-Alert.pdf

July 28: Customs officers at US border not protected from risk of fentanyl exposure, report says

AZCentral.com: Earlier this year, OIG staff visited seven vaults around the U.S., five of them in border cities, including Nogales. They found that even in instances …

Link to OIG report: https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2019-07/OIG-19-53-Jul19.pdf

July 28: Chicago OIG: Published April 2019: REVIEW OF THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT’S “GANG DATABASE”

July 28: NYPD Cops keep getting Doused with Water as Political Firestorm Heats up

Latest on the water NYPD water dousing issue: Lt. Dan

 

News Maven: Since the initial spark of what seems to be a new trend of drenching NYPD cops with water, more videos have emerged that have caught the attention …

 

July 28: SF hiring retired cops for mean streets of Union Square

This should be interesting.  They are going to be in a SFPD uniform and unarmed for $50.00 and hour. Lt. Dan

 

San Francisco Chronicle: In an effort to combat aggressive street behavior downtown, the San Francisco Police Department is spending $350,000 to hire seven retired cops to …

 

July 28: FHP trooper has sex with underage girl more than six times, gives himself up to cops, deputies say

Miami Herald: Pasco County Sheriff’s Office says that a Florida Highway Patrol trooper had sex with an underage girl. Early Saturday morning, deputies arrested …

July 28: Fifth NYPD Officer Since June Dies by Suicide, Police Say

The New York Times: A New York police officer was found dead at his Staten Island home on Saturday after shooting himself in what was the fifth police suicide in the city …

July 28: Police employee’s brutal assault caught on camera

CNN: Authorities in Baltimore are looking for three suspects in connection with an attack on a civilian employee of the Baltimore Police Department that was …

July 27: School resource officer arrested for sexual misconduct

BAXTER COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT) – A Baxter County sheriff’s deputy has been placed under arrest.  According to a news release issued by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, 33-year-old Deputy Matthew Guthrie has been arrested on suspicion of sexual misconduct with a 16-year-old student.

July 26: ECSO deputy arrested, charged with sexual assault, battery of a child

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — An Escambia County Sheriff’s deputy is behind bars Friday evening and charged with battery of a child under 18 and sexual assault of a child under 12.

July 26: Police Officer Who Died From Accidental Overdose Pocketed Fentanyl During Traffic Stop

Newsweek:  A Maine State Police trooper had pulled over a taxi as its headlights were off, which Dabson was a passenger in. The trooper was then allowed to …

 July 26: Nine Hampton University police officers fired over social media posts

Wavy.com: HAMPTON, Va. — Hampton University said it fired nine of its police officers in connection with “misogynistic, racist and other offensive remarks” shared on social media, according to an emailed statement from the Office of University Relations.

July 26: New documentary explores how LE agencies police mental illness

Filmmakers document the inner workings and personal reflections of the San Antonio Police Department’s 10-person mental health unit

July 26:  NYPD detective arrested for cyber stalking ex-girlfriend

New York Daily News: Erbis has been on modified assignment ever since his ex-girlfriend reported him to the Chief of DetectivesInvestigations Unit, court papers show.

July  26:  Bodybuilding sheriff’s lieutenant pleads no contest to workers comp fraud

The Mercury News: A former Santa Clara County Sheriff’s lieutenant charged with feigning injuries to claim disability benefits, while actually doing bodybuilding training, …

July 26: NJ cops win $1M in discrimination suit against department over military service

NJ.com: The lawsuit claims the four cops were passed over for promotions, targeted in internal affairs investigations and treated with disrespect.

 

July 26: What Bodycams Do: Behavior, Accountability and Trust

Good info.  Click link below to see the entire series.  Lt. Dan

Governing: Five years after the killing of Michael Brown, has the widespread adoption of body-worn cameras by U.S. police departments changed the factors that led to his death, and the subsequent protests?

Editor’s note: This is the third part in a series about body cameras in the U.S. To follow along with the series, click here.

July 26: Former Washington Metro Transit Police Officer Charged with Civil Rights Offense for Assaulting an Individual

DOJ: A former Washington, D.C. Metro Transit Police Officer, Andra Vance, 45, was indicted today on charges that he used unreasonable force on an individual, announced Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jessie K. Liu, and Metro Transit Police Chief Ronald A. Pavlik.

According to the indictment, on Feb. 16, 2018, Vance, while on duty as a Metro Transit Police Officer, assaulted an individual by striking the individual with a baton multiple times on the head and then using the baton to choke the individual. Vance’s actions resulted in bodily injury to the individual.

July 26: Home surveillance company Ring teams with local law enforcement agencies, leading to privacy concerns

Agencies in other parts of the country are also teaming up with Ring on this initative. Lt. Dan

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Several law enforcement agencies around San Diego County are teaming up with the popular home surveillance video company Ring, and while the agencies argue that the partnership helps solve and deter crimes, privacy advocates say they have significant concerns about the increasingly cosy relationships between surveillance video companies and law enforcement.

July 26: The Growth Of AI Adoption In Law Enforcement

Forbes: Increasingly law enforcement has turned to artificial intelligence to augment their officers and agencies. AI is said to be an essential factor in law enforcement because it can assist in many areas as well as enhance efficiency.

July 25: Pact With Police Lays Out What Nashville’s New Oversight Board Can — And Can’t — Do

Nashville’s new Community Oversight Board has been in place for six months and has already launched three investigations. At its monthly meeting Wednesday night, the 11-member board took the next step toward finalizing its agreement with police and approved a draft of the contract.

July 25: Baltimore Police Let 76 Unresolved Misconduct Cases Expire

Ap: An investigation by a Baltimore newspaper revealed the city’s police department failed to investigate misconduct complaints against officers soon enough, causing about 75 such cases to expire without conclusions since 2016.

July 24:  West St. Paul PD Begins Wellness Check-Ins For All Police Officers

Officers in West St. Paul are now mandated to meet with a therapist. They’re getting help with not only their police needs, but also their personal ones. A stark contrast to 12 years ago, when one of the department’s officers fell through the cracks after a traumatic day at work.

July 24: Ex-NYPD Vice Detective Sentenced for Running Prostitution Ring

A former NYPD Vice detective was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty for his role in running a prostitution ring, prosecutors said.  Former Brooklyn South Vice Detective Rene Samaniego was fired immediately after pleading guilty in May of attempted enterprise corruption. Samaniego, 44, was sentenced to up to six years in prison

July 24: Baltimore Police struggle to investigate their own, new consent decree report says

Baltmore Sun: Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison has much work ahead as he tries to bring the department into compliance with a federal consent decree, monitors wrote this week.

Internal Affairs

July 24: Judge orders improvements at county jail in Georgia

ATLANTA (AP) — A U.S. judge ordered officials in a metro Atlanta county Tuesday to improve conditions at a local jail where women with mental …

Jan 24: Multiple suspects in custody for dousing NYPD cops with water

NY Post: The NYPD has busted three men, including a reputed Crips gang member on probation, in connection with the caught-on-video water-dousing of cops in Harlem and Brooklyn, law enforcement sources told The Post Wednesday.

Gangbanger Courtney “Killer Court” Thompson, 28, of the Crips subset “Fresh Gangstas” surrendered Wednesday morning at the 73rd Precinct stationhouse for his alleged involvement in the Brownsville water drenching incident, sources said.

By Larry Celona, Stephanie Pagones, Tina Moore and Natalie Musumeci July 24, 2019 | 10:21am | Updated

July 24: The Transparency the Criminal Justice System Needs

Governing: We can’t have effective policymaking without comprehensive data. By mandating standardized data collection across the state, Florida is leading the way.

July 23: OIG Review Reveals Deputy Misconduct

Ny News LA: Deputies found to have assaulted their wives and driven under the influence at more than 100 miles per hour are among those who remain employed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, according to a report discussed with the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

Inspector General Max Huntsman mentioned the report almost in passing as he faulted the department, led by Sheriff Alex Villanueva, of stonewalling his agency’s requests for information.

Link to LA OIG report, also posted on LEIAG website library: https://oig.lacounty.gov/Portals/OIG/Reports/72219Rpt.pdf?ver=2019-07-23-091227-573

July 23: LA County sheriff’s watchdog might gain subpoena power for investigating deputy gangs

Los Angeles Times: The chief watchdog for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has typically relied on cooperation from the law enforcement agency to obtain ..

July 23: Police officer who suggested Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be shot fired from police department

Newsweek: A police officer in Louisiana, who suggested in a social media post that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be shot, and another officer who “liked” the post, have both been fired.

“This vile idiot needs a round… And I don’t mean the kind she used to serve,” Charlie Rispoli wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post referring to Ocasio-Cortez last Thursday, according to a screenshot shared by NOLA.com on Saturday.

July 22: THE TRUTH BEHIND RACIAL DISPARITIES IN FATAL POLICE SHOOTINGS

University of Maryland:  The data show that it’s not racial bias on behalf of white officers relative to black officers when it comes to fatal shootings, and that’s good news. The bad news, Cesario said, is that internal policy changes, such as diversifying police forces, may not reduce shootings of minority citizens.

Link to report: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/07/16/1903856116

July 22: More cops caught on camera. But can you believe what you’re seeing?

SunSentinel: Video:Lawyers say video has become increasingly prevalent with the advent of smartphones. But police’s ever-rising use of body cameras also is leading to a near-explosion of video evidence.

According to the Broward State Attorney’s Office, prosecutors logged nearly 11,500 body camera videos for use as evidence in 2016. Two years later, that number swelled to 120,885. Footage has been used to buttress police reports, persuade defendants to take plea deals and document what officers were on hand to witness.

But videos can raise as many questions as they answer. For every viral video that stirs community outrage, there’s one that provides defense lawyers with the information they need to get a not-guilty verdict.

July 21: In New Zealand ten per cent of police misconduct allegations upheld

Some nice graphics in this article.  You can check out the raw stats as released by the New Zealand police here.  Lt. Dan.

July 21: Judge blocks Fort Worth from replacing fired police chief

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge has temporarily blocked the city of Fort Worth from hiring a replacement for its fired police chief.

A state district judge issued a restraining order Friday that bars the city from hiring a permeant chief for 14 days as Joel Fitzgerald contests his May firing.

Fitzgerald’s lawyer argues his termination violated the city charter and that a new hire should be delayed as his client makes his case for reinstatement.

July 20: A Baltimore deputy police commissioner was robbed at gunpoint, the police department said Saturday.

CNN: Deputy Commissioner Daniel Murphy and his wife were walking Friday night near Patterson Park when a white SUV with four people in it approached them, the department said in a statement emailed to CNN. Two black men, believed to be about 18 years old, got out of the SUV and approached Murphy and his wife, the department said. An organizational chart of the Baltimore Police Department shows that Murphy is the deputy commissioner of the Compliance Bureau. He’s responsible for overseeing the department’s consent decree compliance, CNN affiliate WBAL reported.

Murphy was robbed a day after BPD released new plans to reduce violent crime.

July 20: Massachusetts police ask residents to refrain from crime until after the heat wave passes

(CNN)It’s dangerously hot across much of the country this weekend — so hot, in fact, that police in Braintree, Massachusetts, are imploring would-be criminals to hold off on illegal activity until Monday. Check out the facebook post, pretty humourous.

July 20: Former Texas Police Chief Geovani Hernandez Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Drug Trafficking

CBS 21: Hernandez was a Progreso police sergeant when federal agents arrested him in 2017. A criminal complaint reveals that Hernandez accepted cash from a federal informant to provide security for a drug cartel associate and a shipment of cocaine.

U.S. District Judge Randy Crane noted before the sentencing that Hernandez, who was briefly the police chief in La Joya, could have reduced his prison time by seven years if he had chosen to plead guilty.

July 20: Prison Next For Former Small Town Police Chief In Gun Scam

BAY CITY (WWJ/AP) – A former small-town police chief has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for crimes related to the sale of guns and ammunition.

Robert Reznick was chief in Oakley, a village in Saginaw County. Although the town has a population less than 300 people, Reznick created a crew of 120 “reserve officers,” most of whom were affluent professionals or otherwise prominent individuals who lived outside and far from Oakley. He obtained guns, ammunition and other police equipment at a reduced rate and then resold them to the reserves for a profit.

July 19: 13 Philadelphia Officers to Be Fired Over Racist, Violent Facebook Posts

BC 10: News video: 72 officers were placed on administrative leave after their posts were made public. Nearly all will face some kind of disciplinary action

JULY 18: Chicago Police Board fires 4 officers over ‘cover up’ in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald

(CNN)Four Chicago police officers have been fired for covering up the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, the Chicago Police Board said Thursday.

The board said it ordered Sgt. Stephen Franko, Officer Janet Mondragon, Officer Daphne Sebastian and Officer Ricardo Viramontes to be “discharged from the Chicago Police Department.”

In its ruling, the board concluded the officers violated their “duty by describing the alleged threat posed by Mr. McDonald in an exaggerated way, while omitting relevant facts that support the opposite conclusion. The overall impression based on this selective telling is both misleading and false.”

July 18: July 18: Former Alabama Police Investigator Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting Handcuffed Arrestee

3 convicted Paterson NJ cops say they stole money with a fourth officer

Northjeresey.com: Police officer Frank Toledo pleaded guilty on Tuesday to participating in illegal traffic stops and shakedowns. Ed Forbes and Paul Wood Jr.,

July 18: California’s attempt to reduce police shooting, explained

CalMatters is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. Nice graphics and some good statistics, although I can’t vouch for their accuracy.

July 17: Police misconduct investigator forced out after accessing cops’ investigative records

Chicago Tribune: A city employee who investigated misconduct allegations against Chicago police was forced to resign for improperly accessing investigative records on cops she knew and for falsely reporting that a co-worker planned a mass shooting at work, a report by the city’s inspector general revealed Tuesday.

July 17: L.A. County to Pay $53 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over Invasive Group Strip Searches of Female Inmates

KTLA: News Video: Los Angeles County will pay $53 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged tens of thousands of women were given invasive group strip searches at a jail, according to court filings Tuesday.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2010 on behalf of former inmates who said they were placed in groups of up to 50 and ordered to expose their genitals while deputies shouted degrading comments.

July 16: Will LA County Supes Give Inspector General Subpoena Power To Probe The Problem Of Gangsters With Badges?

Los Angeles Supervisors Janice Hahn and Mark Ridley-Thomas have co-authored a motion that, should it pass at the board meeting this coming Tuesday (which it likely will), appears nearly ready to grant subpoena power to the Office of the Inspector General so that the OIG can effectively investigate the deputy gangs that appear to still be running rife through the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, if recent filings of deputy gang-related civil rights lawsuits, and recent settlements of other deputy gang-related civil rights lawsuits are any indication of the matter.

July 16: Eric Garner’s Death Will Not Lead to Federal Charges for N.Y.P.D. Officer

Five years after Mr. Garner’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry, Attorney General William P. Barr ordered the case be dropped.

July 16: Coral Springs police detective sentenced to probation for kicking handcuffed suspect in head

Detective Sandy Gomez also ordered to complete anger management course

July 16:  Local law enforcement agencies looking to private DNA labs to help solve cold cases

WBNS: Article list the privacy policies for some popular DNA home testing kits:

A comparison of averted and completed school attacks from the police foundation averted school violence database

Police Foundation: In this report, 51 completed and 51 averted incidents of school violence, drawn from the ASV database, were analyzed to help further our understanding of averted and completed school attacks. The report also seeks to provide important lessons about how school violence can be prevented.

July 15: 27 keys to retiring from police work ‘undefeated’

Police One: To retire undefeated, you must work hard to survive physically, legally and emotionally – losing any one of these battles can lead to devastating consequences for officers.

July 15: Mayor’s approach to Seattle police reforms could prolong court oversight, council members say

Seattle Time: Three Seattle City Council members plan to send a sharply worded letter to Mayor Jenny Durkan on Monday, rebuking what they describe as a recalcitrant strategy toward addressing police accountability flaws.

The highly unusual letter calls on Durkan to ask the powerful Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) to reopen its contract with the city in order to fix deficiencies that prompted U.S. District Judge James Robart to find the city partly out of compliance with federally mandated reforms.

Durkan has hesitated to take that step, opting to form a five-member team of outside police consultants to help craft a response to the judge. Reform advocates fear that the mayor’s approach is aimed at convincing the judge that no changes are needed in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In their letter, the council members said Durkan’s actions could invite prolonged court oversight.

July 15: National Best Practices for Implementing and Sustaining a Cold Case Investigation Unit

 Since 2005, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has assisted state and local law enforcement agencies across the nation ininvestigating cold cases through NIJ’s Solving Cold Cases with DNA program. In 2015, NIJ assembled a group of subject matter experts from the cold case investigation community to review the state of cold case investigations and cold case units in the United States. One identified concern was the lack of agencies addressing the growing needs of unresolved cases. As a result, the Cold Case Investigation Working Group and NIJ collaborated to create this guide in an effort to assist law enforcement agencies in creating a mechanism for addressing the cold cases in their jurisdictions

 July 15: From Crime Mapping to Crime Forecasting: The Evolution of Place-Based Policing

 NIJ: The past decade, in particular, has seen advances in analytical capabilities within the criminal justice community, making it possible to add more geographic and social dimensions to statistical analyses to forecast where crimes are likely to occur.

July 15: Arizona DPS Trooper Is Accused Of Forgery, Fraud, Theft

 AP: The officer allegedly defrauded off-duty law enforcement employment vendors. There were discrepancies with Aguila’s record keeping relating to his on-duty time sheets and patrol vehicle mileage usage. DPS also says Aguila allegedly used his assigned patrol vehicle for personal use, hid unauthorized fuel purchases and illegally used the Arizona Criminal Justice Information System

July 15: Audio Shows Top Chicago Officer Being Chased by Indiana Police Waved, Traveled at 114 MPH

 WEAR TV: The officer involved, identified as Commander Ed Wodnicki, has been reassigned as an investigation into what happened is underway, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department confirmed

July 15: Former Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy accused of planting drugs has bail set at $169,500

 AUDIT: NEW JERSEY POLICE AGENCIES NEED UNIFORM POLICIES FOR RAPE KITS

 Come on baby, cry for me:’ Deputy saved 12-day-old’s life after pulling driver over for speeding

Broward County FL. sheriff’s deputy fired after video shows him repeatedly punching handcuffed teen

 Newsweek: Broward County, Florida, Sheriff Gregory Tony confirmed that his department had terminated the employment of deputy Kevin Fanti. The deputy had been caught on surveillance video delivering body and head blows to a 19-year-old waiting in line to be booked into a Fort Lauderdale jail.

Video from the June 25 incident shows the teen, identified by the sheriff’s department as Kyle Paul, kick paperwork toward the deputy, who then picks up the documents and slams them against Paul’s chest.

July 15: Police body camera footage shows fatal shooting of Hannah Williams in Anaheim

ABC: A call from a 17-year old southern California girl’s father after she was fatally shot by police served as a heartbreaking postscript to body camera video showing the teen’s final moments, during which she was shot after appearing to aim a gun at a responding officer.

July 15: Ex-Tennessee police chief charged with official misconduct

Lack of internal controls.  Lt. Dan

AP: According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, 44-year-old former Tellico Plains Police Chief James Russell Parks Jr. was indicted on one count of official misconduct Tuesday by a Monroe County grand jury and was booked into the county jail Thursday on a $6,000 bond.

TBI says it began investigating about $840 missing from the police department’s drug enforcement fund in February. TBI says Parks resigned when the allegation surfaced that he was involved in a sexual relationship with the informant paid from the fund.

 July 15: SAN LUIS OBISPO – Man returns gun California police chief left in bathroom

 Follow up on story we posted last week.  Lt. Dan

SMDP.com: A man has turned in a gun that a California police chief left behind in a restroom.

San Luis Obispo police say 30-year-old Skeeter Carlos Mangan of Los Osos admitted Thursday he took the gun that Chief Deanna Cantrell left in an El Pollo Loco restaurant the day before.

July 15: Former Manning South Carolina police chief admits he took $80,000 in seized money

CHARLESTON, S.C. – A former police chief in South Carolina has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $80,000 seized during a traffic stop.  Former Manning Police Chief Gary Shaffer will be sentenced at a later date after pleading guilty Thursday to theft of government funds and lying to a federal agent.

July 15: LA Sheriffs Dept. sex crimes detective admits to assaulting girl, 15, in case he investigated

 Fox News: Neil Kimball, 46, pleaded guilty in Ventura County to a lewd act with a child and unlawful sexual intercourse, prosecutors said Wednesday. As part of the plea agreement, Kimball, of Agoura, Calif., faces a three-year sentence in prison. He also has to register as a sex offender.

The detective investigated dozens of child molestation cases as a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s sex crimes unit, The Los Angeles Times reported. Kimball was assigned to the unit in 2013. He had 20 years on the job with the sheriff’s office.

A colleague was working Kimball’s cases when he learned of the rape accusation in October, the paper reported. Kimball was on medical leave at the time. The sheriff’s office said Friday that Kimball will be fired immediately, according to the paper. His pay was suspended in March.

July 12: Eugene police auditor’s report shows increase in public complaints, concern for new officers

The Eugene Police Auditor’s Office saw a 20% increase in complaints about police department employees last year, most of which were generated by the public.

And Eugene Police Auditor Mark Gissiner expressed concern that more complaints may be coming, because of the amount of newly hired officers with less than five years of experience, in the Eugene Police Auditor’s 2018 report, released last week ahead of the July 11 Eugene Police Commission meeting when the report is to be presented.

“We continue to receive a large number of complaints related to lack of police response and response times,” Gissiner’s report reads. “Chief (Chris) Skinner has prioritized staffing, and it is our hope that these types of complaints will decrease.

“However, having a disproportionate number of police officers with less than five years of experience may result in an increase in judgment-related complaints. Proper, extensive training will help minimize those types of complaints, and we will continue to reach out to EPD training staff to ensure recruit employees are getting the best training possible.”

July 11: Vegas Police Release Report on Lessons From 2017 Massacre

US News:  Las Vegas police have released a report about what the department learned from the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.  Among 93 recommendations in a newly released department “after-action review” are requirements to plan ahead with neighboring police, fire, hospital and coroner officials; to let responding officers remove reflective vests so they’re less of a target to a shooter; and to ensure more paramedics and trauma kits are available at large-scale events.

Link to report, Also posted in LEIAG library: https://www.lvmpd.com/en-us/Documents/1_October_AAR_Final_06062019.pdf

Jul 11: FBI investigating tattooed deputy gangs in Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

LA Times: The federal probe follows allegations of beatings and harassment by members of the Banditos, a group of deputies assigned to the Sheriff’s East L.A. station who brand themselves with matching tattoos of a skeleton outfitted in a sombrero, bandolier and pistol. The clique’s members are accused by other deputies of using gang-like tactics to recruit young Latino deputies into their fold and retaliating against those who rebuff them.

July 11:  1 trooper loses job after NC Highway Patrol investigates ticket padding complaints

News Video: Specifically, ABC11 has learned that troopers may have “misrepresented citations” by adding additional penalties after the driver had already been issued a ticket. The driver, thus, wouldn’t find out about those additional citations until traffic court or after missing payment deadlines.

July 11: No police misconduct found in arrest of black patient walking with IV stand outside hospital, Illinois city says

Chicago Tribune: In his report for the city of Freeport, Hazel Crest Police Chief Mitchell R. Davis III said he found no evidence that race played any role in the security officer’s decision to stop 24-year-old Shaquille Dukes — who was still wearing his hospital gown — and two other black men as Dukes alleged at the time in a video of the incident that he posted on Facebook.

July 11: Colorado grows annual cannabis sales to $1 billion as other states struggle to gain a market foothold

CNBC: Companies also have made more than $6.5 billion in sales over the last five years, with April and May of this year the highest-grossing months since legalization.  Per-person sales are also highest in Colorado, with people buying, on average, $280 worth of cannabis per year compared to $220 and $130 for Washington and Oregon, respectively, the second and third states to legalize weed, according to Scott Willis, head of research at Grizzle, a New York-based investment research company.

Much of the legal marijuana market revenue, which accounts for about 3% of the state’s $30 billion budget, goes toward education, health care, literacy services and drug prevention programs.

July 11: Police chief loses weapon in California restaurant restroom

Bummer. LT. Dan

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — The chief of a California police department says she left her gun in a restroom and it was immediately stolen and now officials are looking for a man seen in restaurant surveillance video leaving shortly after the weapon vanished.

San Luis Obispo Chief Deanna Cantrell revealed her mistake in a video on the department’s Facebook page, saying her actions were “irresponsible and dangerous” and that she’s glad a child didn’t find the weapon.

July 11: Texas Judge Convicted of Bribery and Obstruction

DOJ: Delgado is currently a justice in the Thirteenth Court of Appeals for the State of Texas.  He was previously the presiding judge for the 93rd District Court for the State of Texas, which has jurisdiction over Texas criminal and civil cases located within Hidalgo County.  As a district judge, Delgado conspired with an attorney from January 2008 to November 2016 to accept bribes in exchange for favorable judicial consideration on criminal cases pending in his courtroom.

As part of an investigation conducted by the FBI, Delgado also accepted bribes on three separate occasions in exchange for agreeing to release three of the attorney’s clients on bond in cases pending before his court.  The first two bribes totaled approximately $520 in cash and the third bribe, which occurred in January 2018, totaled approximately $5,500 in cash.  After Delgado learned of the FBI’s investigation, he also attempted to obstruct justice by contacting the attorney and providing a false story about the payments.

July 11: OIG Report: Baltimore Police marine unit misspent $30k on boat salvage

Baltimore Sun:  The Baltimore Police Department’s marine unit wasted more than $30,000 in 2016 to salvage a damaged boat in the Inner Harbor, putting officers’ safety and city property at risk when a no-cost state program was available, the city’s Office of the Inspector General found.  The investigation began after an officer reported his concerns to the office after being rebuffed when trying to inform his superiors.

Link to report: https://oig.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/OIG%20Public%20Synopsis%2019-0027-I%20.pdf

LA’s Sheriff Rehired A Deputy Who Is Now Being Called Unfit To Wear A Badge And Gun

LAist: L.A. County’s Office of Inspector General said in a report Tuesday that evidence it reviewed “clearly establishes” Sheriff’s Deputy Carl Mandoyan is unfit to wear a badge and gun, pointing to the fact that he engaged in domestic violence against a girlfriend and lied about it to the department’s internal affairs investigators. The report is the first independent review of Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s decision to rehire Mandoyan, who served as a key aide to Villanueva during his campaign for office last year.

Link to LA OIG Report: https://oig.lacounty.gov/Portals/OIG/Reports/TruthandReconciliation.pdf?ver=2019-07-09-085916-457