TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Founder/Owner: Deborah Gulley
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Woollons
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1. Line of Duty
2. Feature Items
Norman Woollans – Letter to the Colonies
Top 100 Women, TopCops member nominated
"Servo per Amikeco" – fifty years of global friendship by
Dick Coleman
3. The NEWS!
4. Focus of Interest
By Special Request of The SmilingPoliceman
A COVER STORY, “Burying the Evidence”
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5. Humor
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Membership Screeners
for TopCops-L
http://topcops.com/news/topcopsl.htm
Below is a list of current membership screeners. Please feel free to contact them and request a membership to TopCopsL. These screeners will be able to approve your membership after verifying your peace officer status/employment
status. All list screeners are members of TopCops-L in good standing and are dedicated to the honor and integrity of
TopCops on the Internet.
LIST SCREENERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD:
Jean-françois, Paris, France – [email protected]
Mike Wood, Regina, Saskatchewan Canada [email protected]
Warwick Brown, Sydney, Australia –
[email protected]
Norman Woollons, England –
[email protected]
Lawrie Newell, Queensland, Australia [email protected]
Carl Cutler, New Zealand – [email protected]
Volkmar Miehling, Germany [email protected]
Steve Livingston, Columbus, Ohio Police –
[email protected] or [email protected]
Dale Grimwood, Australia –
[email protected]
Ryk Traeger, South Australia –
[email protected]
Scott M. Wilson FSA Scot, Scotland [email protected]
Michael Passig – Minnesota [email protected]
Harry Kouwenhoven - Germany [email protected]
Glen Tankard – Sdyney, Australia [email protected]
Craig Cobern – Western Australia [email protected]
Michael Kelley - NYPD, CityWIDE [email protected]
Rick Wiley – NYPD, CityWIDE [email protected]
Geoffrey B.W.Little, The Smiling Policeman –
Australia - [email protected]
Mauro M. L. Silva, Regina, Brazil [email protected]
Lt. Bill Wilson, Georgia - [email protected]
Al Sheppard, NC - [email protected]
Craig Faulstich, Hayward, WI P.D. [email protected]
Feel free to contact Deborah Gulley at [email protected] OR Mike Wood
[email protected] if you have any questions or problems
Steun ons in ons streven naar eenheid tussen politiemensen in respect voor de mensen in de dorpen
Submit your jokes, articles and Stories to
TopCops Newsmagazine to share with our
membership and readers. Email
[email protected]
en steden, die wij gezworen hebben te dienen en te beschermen.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
Deputy Angela K. Payne
Knox County Sheriff's
Department, TN
Cause of Death: Struck by
vehicle
End of Watch: February 26, 2000
Date of Incident: February 26,
2000
Time of Incident: 0141 hours
Age: 31
Tour of Duty: 3 yr
Suspect Info: No charges filed
Weapon Used: Automobile
Deputy Payne was killed after she
was struck by a vehicle while she
was investigating an accident. Deputy Payne and
another officer had responded to a business after
the sheriff's department received a 911 call about a
possible shooting.
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
responding to a call of a transient walking along
U.S. Highway 36. Deputy Widman was unable to
locate the suspect on the initial call.
Approximately one hour later he observed a
person matching the description of the suspect and
began to question him.
Deputy Widman was transporting the suspect back
to the department when he was shot. Deputy
Widman was
transported to a local hospital where he died of
the gunshot wounds. The juvenile suspect fled the
scene but was shot and killed after exchanging
gunfire with other officers about an hour later.
Deputy Widman had been with the agency for two
years.
-----------------------------------------------Officer Ward Canfield
Minneapolis Police Department, MN
Because there was no shoulder on the road, both
officers parked in the north-bound lane of the two
lane road. While standing in the south-bound lane,
both officers were struck from behind by another
drive. They were transported by ambulance to a
local hospital where Deputy Payne was
pronounced dead.
Cause of Death: Gunfire
End of Watch: March 2, 2000
Date of Incident: August 17, 1957
Time of Incident: Unknown
Age: 78
Tour of Duty: 12 yr
Suspect Info: Two shot and killed by other officers
Weapon Used: Hammer
The Second officer was admitted in critical
condition. No charges were filed against the driver
of the vehicle. Deputy Payne had been with the
agency for three years and is survived by her
mother and grandmother.
Officer Canfield died of pneumonia which he
caught due to gunshot wounds he received on
August 17, 1957. The Hennepin County,
Minnesota, coroner ruled his death a homicide due
to the gunshot wounds.
--------------------------------------------------
Deputy Todd M. Widman
Brown County Sheriff's Department, KS
Cause of Death: Gunfire
End of Watch: March 1, 2000
Date of Incident: March 1, 2000
Time of Incident: 1900 hours
Age: 21
Tour of Duty: 2 yr
Suspect Info: Shot and killed by other officers
Weapon Used: Handgun
Deputy Widman was shot and killed after
Officer Canfield and his partner, Officer Robert
Fossum, began chasing a stolen car, not knowing
that the three occupants were en route to rob a
local market. During the chase the suspects began
firing at the officers' squad car, before crashing.
As the officers approached they opened fire again,
striking Officer Fossum in the head, killing him.
As the suspects attempted to escape they also shot
Officer Canfield before striking him with their
vehicle and dragging him approximately 30 feet.
The suspects, all brothers, were able to elude
authorities for 28 days before they were located.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Two of the suspects were shot and killed in a
shootout with police and the third suspect
committed suicide in jail in 1958. Officer Canfield
was forced to retire due to his injuries in 1960 and
was confined to a wheelchair and his bed.
Time of Incident: 1745 hours
Age: 22
Tour of Duty: 1 yr
Suspect Info: Arrested at scene
Weapon Used: Automobile
His injuries required him to have 97 blood
transfusions and over 100 surgeries. He had been
with the agency for twelve years at the time of the
incident.
------------------------------------------------
Officer Roussey was killed in an automobile
accident when his Jeep Cherokee patrol vehicle
collided with another car as he was responding to
assist an officer who was in a foot pursuit.
Deputy Rupert Peete
Shelby County Sheriff's Department, TN
Cause of Death: Gunfire
End of Watch: March 8, 2000
Date of Incident: March 8, 2000
Time of Incident: 1300 hours
Age: 45
Tour of Duty: Unknown
Suspect Info: Shot and wounded by other officers
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Deputy Peete was shot and killed after being
ambushed by a man who had just murdered two
firefighters. The firefighters had responded to a
call of a house fire when they were ambushed.
As they approached the burning structure the
suspect came out of the house's garage and opened
fire with a shotgun, killing both.
Deputy Peete, who was responding to the scene of
the shots-fired call, was shot while he was still in
his cruiser. Other officers arrived on the scene and
shot the suspect after he refused their demands to
drop his weapon. A fourth victim was found dead
in the garage.
The suspect was a firefighter who had just
returned to duty after being on disability.
---------------------------------------------Officer Jamie A. Roussey
Baltimore City Police Department, MD
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
End of Watch: March 8, 2000
Date of Incident: March 8, 2000
After the collision the driver's side of the Jeep
struck a utility pole. Rescue workers had to
remove the top of the Jeep in order to free Officer
Roussey.
He was transported to a local hospital where he
died of injuries approximately two hours later. The
driver of the vehicle which collided with Officer
Roussey's vehicle was arrested and charged with
possession of a deadly weapon after officers found
a handgun in the trunk of his car. Officer Roussey
had been with the agency for one year.
------------------------------------------------Deputy Richard Kinchen
Fulton County Sheriff's Department, GA
Cause of Death: Gunfire
End of Watch: March 17, 2000
Date of Incident: March 16, 2000
Time of Incident: 2200 hours
Age: Unknown
Tour of Duty: Unknown
Suspect Info: Fled scene
Weapon Used: Rifle; .223 caliber
Deputy Kinchen died from gunshot wounds he
received the night before while attempting to serve
a warrant with another deputy.
Deputy Kinchen and the other deputy went to
suspect's job to serve the warrant. After failing to
locate anyone at the business they drove around
the block and located a vehicle.
While approaching the vehicle, the deputies told
the occupants to show them their hands. At that
time, the suspect with the warrant exited the
vehicle and opened fire with a .223 caliber rifle,
striking both deputies several times.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
Deputy Kinchen was struck in the abdomen and
leg and was transported to a local hospital, where
he died the next day. Deputy Kinchen was
wearing a vest, however, the round struck him in
an area not protected
by the vest. Deputy Kinchen is survived by his
wife and two teenaged children.
The second deputy was struck several times and
admitted to the hospital in critical condition. The
suspect was originally wanted for several charges,
including impersonating a police officer. The
suspect was also a former member of the Black
Panthers movement with a long criminal record,
including inciting a riot. The deputies were
unaware of the suspect's radical background.
-----------------------------------------------Polizeiobermeisterin
Kirsten SPÄINGHAUS-FLICK
Wuppertal PD - Nordrhein-Westfalen (D)
Cause of Death: Knife Attack
Date of Death: February 27th 2000
Age: 26 yrs
Tour of Duty: 8 yrs
Suspect Info: Macedonian (27 yrs)
Weapon Used: kitchen knife
On February 27th 2000 POMin Kirsten
SPÄINGHAUS-FLICK and another Police
Officer were called to a familiary violence.
When the Officers arrieved at the scene a 27 yeras
old Macedonian, who was responsable for the
family violence, attacked POMin Kirsten
SPÄINGHAUS-FLICK, who still sat inside the
patrol car, with a long kitchen knife. The other
Police Officer stopped the offender by shooting
into his leg and arrested the man.
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Friends and Colleagues of these fallen Heros.
They will not be forgotten.
Respectfully,
Randall PERRY - Coordinator
TopCops Condolence Cards Program
[email protected]
http://www.topcops.com/condolence.htm
One down and 99 to go:
TopCops member, Martha Decker gets nominated.
This is the article which appeared in the local
paper…
"Martha has been a resident of the Cedar
Creek Lake area for 16 years. She is currently
a sergeant for the Tool Police Department as
well as the field training officer, investigator
and hostage negotiator.
Martha is also a freelance journalist and
photographer and also the owner of Martha's
Wholesale. She and her husband, Ken, have
two sons.
Martha enjoys working with at risk children in
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Operation Outreach Program and spent many
years on the Gun Barrel Volunteer Fire
Department. Martha has also started
providing community programs through the
Tool Police Department for senior citizens
and families.."
Our thoughts and prayers go to the Family,
Steun ons in ons streven naar eenheid tussen politiemensen in respect voor de mensen in de dorpen
en steden, die wij gezworen hebben te dienen en te beschermen.
"Servo per Amikeco" – fifty years of global friendship
Contributed byDick Coleman, a retired Police Inspector in England and a member of Region 9 of the IPA
British Section [email protected]
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
"Servo per Amikeco" translated from Esperanto means Service Through Friendship. This is the
motto of the International Police Association, known by Police Officers throughout the world as
simply - the IPA.
In this year 2000 the IPA celebrates it’s fiftieth
anniversary. On the 1st January 1950 a
Police Sergeant from Lincolnshire in England
realised his dream and the IPA was born.
Arthur Troop was to create an organisation,
which promoted friendship and co-operation
amongst serving and retired Police Officers
throughout the world, an organisation able to
develop social, cultural and professional links
free of any discrimination of, rank, sex, race,
colour, language or religion.
Arthur Troop served as a Police Officer throughout the Second World War and following the end
of hostilities recognised the need for friendship and trust amongst the people of the world. He
had already established pen-friendships but these were lost during the war years, so he decided
to re-kindle these pen-friendships but restrict his activity within the world of Police Officers. He
was soon corresponding with fellow Officers throughout Europe, all of whom believed in
spreading the simple message of friendship throughout the world.
Motivated by his own strong feelings and the support of his new pen friends Arthur Troop took a
bold step and wrote an article for the established weekly police publication in the UK – Police
Review. Discipline in the Police in these years was rigid and Arthur knew that if he identified
himself at this stage he could face considerable difficulties from within the Service. Arthur wrote
his letter under the pseudonym of ‘Aytee’ and Police Review published the article on August
12th, 1949.
Arthur set out his vision for the organisation in his article and proposed how it might be
administered. He sought the views of the magazine’s readers and was delighted to receive a
substantial vote of confidence for his proposal. Support from not only within the UK but also
from his international correspondents who would become Associate Members of the British
Section pending the formation of their own National Section. Encouraged by this he wrote a
letter to Police Review seeking further support. On this occasion he felt confident to identify
himself recognising that this was necessary to further his ambition.
With assistance from several like-minded friends and colleagues an inaugural meeting of the
Association was convened at Bishopsgate Police Station in London in September 1949.
Despite some rigorous resistance from the Police Federation who perceived the IPA as a threat
to their own organisation, the meeting elected the first Officers of the Association and decided
that the IPA would be created on January 1st, 1950.
Much hard worked ensued to formalise the Association with a charter, a motto and an insignia.
The motto ‘Service Through Friendship’ was soon agreed and after trying it in different
languages the Esperanto version was thought to be most appropriate. Designs for an insignia
were sought without success, so Arthur did a little sketching, starting with the star shape of his
helmet badge, added a globe, some laurel leaves and a scroll and so devised the insignia of the
Association.
There had been opposition to the formation of
the Association ever since it was first
proposed so it was no surprise to Arthur to be
called before his Chief Constable to face
some
tough
questioning
about
the
Association and calling into doubt his ability to
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
administer the Association – after all he was
merely a Constable, albeit a Temporary
Sergeant at the time.
supported him, although he seriously
wondered how this interview might affect his
career.
The Chief Constable even offered to take the
Association ‘papers’ from Arthur and have an
Officer of the rank of Inspector investigate the
feasibility of the idea. He also questioned the
legality of the Association. Arthur stood firm
to his beliefs and to his colleagues that had
He left the interview feeling somewhat
deflated and pondering who might have
directed the Chief Constable to find out just
what he was up to. Arthur kept his nerve
though and true to his beliefs resolved to
move
the
Association
forward.
Ironically some years later this same Chief Constable congratulated Arthur on his work for the
Association admiring Arthur’s courage to carry on with the IPA despite his (the Chief
Constable’s) doubts at that time.
In the 1950’s the IPA grew steadily throughout Europe. Arthur and his colleagues often found
themselves travelling to European destinations to promote the IPA and attend meetings. Not for
them the convenient air travel that we take for granted today, but many long and tiring journeys.
In 1953 The Netherlands became the first country after the United Kingdom to form a Section.
Belgium and France followed during that year. Norway, Germany and Switzerland organised
during the next two years and the first International Congress was held in Paris in 1955.
Development through Europe and beyond was not always without difficulties but Arthur and his
colleagues persevered and the organisation moved on and continued to grow in stature.
In the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 1965 Arthur Troop was awarded the British Empire
Medal (BEM) in recognition of his services in founding, developing and supporting the
International Police Association. In the same Honours List at this time were a certain popular
music Group of the day – The Beatles.
In 1967 the IPA received further recognition when the organisation was granted Consultative
Status with the United Nations. The vision of Arthur Troop has evolved into a truly international
organisation with in excess of 279,000 serving and retired Police Officers represented in 61
countries – more people than could ever have been imagined fifty years ago.
The IPA is a self-funding and non-profit organisation and is not concerned with Service matters,
labour disputes or politics. The ideals of the organisation remain those envisaged by its founder,
with the emphasis on friendship.
A National Executive Council administers the IPA in each member country, which is answerable
to an International Executive Council. Countries are divided into Regions, which have their own
administrative and governing structure. The work of the Association is carried out by elected
members, usually on a voluntary basis.
Annual conventions, both nationally and internationally, are hosted by different regions and
countries, providing opportunities for members to meet and socialise in addition to the business
matters of the convention. A World (Triennial) Congress is held every three years. These
events have previously been held throughout Europe and in Canada and New Zealand.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Perhaps the most significant advantage of being an IPA member is the opportunity to travel.
Although not a requisite for membership, members are encouraged to host visitors in their
homes and to assist the visitor in making the most of their holiday. Such interaction often
enhances a visit and fosters long lasting friendships.
Many countries have IPA Houses available for the benefit of members and their families as well
as maintaining lists of recommended accommodation.
Travel can be as individuals, families or groups. A system utilising an established Travel Form
exists to facilitate the arrangements between the visitor and the host.
From a professional perspective opportunities abound to study policing methods in other regions
and countries allowing Police Officers to increase their knowledge and expertise.
Although travel plays a major part in IPA life there are many other activities pursued by
members, locally, nationally and internationally. Some examples are –
•
local social events promoting camaraderie and friendship
•
national and international Friendship Weeks and other events often with a cultural theme
•
publication and distribution of magazines and newsletters to keep members updated with what is
going on
•
hobby groups allowing members to share mutual interests
•
professional study, exchange and/or travel scholarships
Families of IPA members are welcome and encouraged to take part in IPA activities.
For the children of members the IPA offers the International Youth Exchange Programme allowing the
young person to experience another culture and to further their education within the safety of another
member’s family.
Young persons aged fifteen to nineteen years of age can also attend International Youth Gatherings,
which are hosted annually in different countries. These Gatherings are for groups of around 50 persons
and the participants enjoy activities encouraging an 'international spirit'.
The International Youth Gathering in 2000 will be in San Marino, followed by the United Kingdom in
2001 and Hungary in 2002.
If the IPA has a ‘flagship’ then it must surely be Gimborn Castle in Germany. It is the IPA
International Conference Centre where seminars, conferences and meetings are held. Multilingual programmes are held regularly on police related topics.
The International Police Association is a unique global ‘club’ for Police Officers. The IPA lapel
pin and blue passport type membership card are recognised throughout the world, offering
many benefits to the travelling member.
To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the IPA, the Sixteenth World Congress will be held this year in
Bournemouth, England between May 7th and May 13th 2000. A full programme of events complements
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
this gathering, which will be formally opened by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal on Tuesday
May 9th, 2000. An International Non-Denominational Thanksgiving Service will take place in Salisbury
Cathedral on Friday May 12th, 2000.
In the week prior to the events in Bournemouth (April 29th to May 6th) Scotland are hosting a Friendship
Week entitled ‘The Gathering of the Clans’. This event is packed with entertainment and promises to be a
wonderful occasion hosted with renowned Scottish hospitality.
You can join the IPA for a modest annual fee. For further information on how to join the IPA visit the
website of the IPA US Section at: http://www.ipa-usa.org/. This is a comprehensive website with links to
IPA Sections in many other countries.
I have been an IPA member since 1982 but it was not until the past two years during visits to the
United States that I really understood what the IPA is all about. The hospitality and friendship
shown to me was truly outstanding and I can assure Arthur Troop that his dream of friendship
amongst Police Officers throughout the world is as strong now as it was fifty years ago.
Dick Coleman is a retired Police Inspector in England and a member of Region 9 of the IPA British
Section. He can be contacted at: [email protected]
Note: Arthur Troop has been quite ill in the past year and underwent surgery for cancer followed by a
period in hospital for treatment. He faces further surgery this year but is optimistic that he can add a few
more years to the eight five that he has achieved so far. I am sure all IPA members wish him well.
In the Autumn 1999 issue of 'Police
World' (IPA magazine of the British
Section) there was a request from
Agent John Hitchens of Lakewood
Police PD in Colorado, a member of
Region 17 of the IPA US Section.
that's me (left) and Lakewood PD Officer
John Hitchens either side of Patrick Ireland
wearing a Bedfordshire Police helmet.
John was involved in the rescue of Columbine School
student Patrick Ireland, shot twice in the tragic events
at his school. John appealed for Police memorabilia
for Patrick to aid his recovery. There was a
tremendous world-wide response and John was
inundated with items for Patrick.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
I decided that Patrick might like a Bedfordshire Police helmet that I just happened to have and then
thought, why don't I take it to him personally? I soon made contact by e-mail with Region 17 member
Bill Barnes - John has yet to venture into Cyberspace! Bill is a retired Lakewood PD Sergeant and a close
friend of John's and I received a warm welcome to visit the area.
I choose to travel in November and risk the
likelihood of deep snow in the Denver area
but to my amazement (....and everyone
else's!) the weather was delightfully mild
with the only snow being high up in the
Rocky Mountains.
John took me to meet Patrick and his family
and I presented him with the helmet along
with a collection of other items kindly
donated by other IPA members throughout
the UK.
Although still affected by his injuries
Patrick was in good spirits and had renewed
his education and is progressing well. He
toured the UK in March 2000 with a group
of Columbine School students and parents.
that's me with the crew of the Denver PD helicopter after a
two hour ridealong arranged by my IPA host
I combined my trip to the Denver area with
a visit to Chicago (US IPA Region 4) In
both Regions I was home hosted by IPA
members and made to feel most welcome. The hospitality shown to me was tremendous and served to
remind me of the wonderful friendship that exists in the IPA.
Dick Coleman is a member of TopCops and has been kind enough to share his articles and photos with our readers.
If you have any questions, comments or would just like to say, Dick can be reached at
[email protected]
Amendment I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of
the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
Yesterday is
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
history and tomorrows a mystery, but today is a
gift.
etter to the Colonies
It seems really easy to spend money, however what I find difficult is spending money which I
have been trusted with, even though it is to be spent. Budgeting in the police service is
becoming more and more difficult. As the budget shrinks and demands increase, competing
bids for funding have to be assessed and decisions made.
Right now I am trying to decide how I will spend £2.5million, which at todays exchange rate is
US$4.1 million. What am I going to spend it on? That’s the easy bit, it’s a new helicopter for the
service.
You would be amazed how popular you are with some companies when you are shopping for
big budget items like this. I have to decide between a 200 mph Ferrari (with rotors), a 150 mph
Ford panel van (with rotors), a new – but designed in the 1980’s Ford flatebed with a truckman
top, and rotors, and 1999 160 mph Lincoln town car, converted for police use, with rotors.
What do I actually want, well, what do my crews actually want? We would like something that
has the comfort of a Rolls Royce, the hauling power of a Peterbilt, space to carry the equipment
usually found on your standard Oskosh fire pump, the internal dimensions and ride of GM
Paramedic vehicle, the simplicity of a Tonka and the gas mileage of Toyota and the looks of an
Impala.
Oh, and by the way, paint it blue
and yellow, and we want some
extras, a camera or two, 8 or nine
radio sets and a few more bits.
What will I get for the money?
Well I can tell you now, it’ll be a
helicopter and it will be the one
that comes closes to my
specification. I can’t wait until I
have to go and collect it in 9
months time and fly it home.
One advantage of living in a rural
area is the stress relieving
journeys to and from the office. I
have to drive (or in the summer
ride my bike) through the village
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
to get to the office. Who could fail to feel better having to pass through this bucolic scene every
day?
Stay safe everyone.
Norman Woollons of England [email protected]
“TopCops van over de hele wereld sturen hun groeten, vriendschap en wensen voor
vrede aan hun broeders en zusters, waar ook ter wereld”
TopCops on the Internet, http://www.topcops.com/
I am proud to inform our friends and supporters
that TopCops on the Internet has experienced
some major changes over the past few months.
The most significant of these changes are our new
domain location http://www.topcops.com/ , our
new TopCops t-shirt design, our revamped web
page and my new email address
([email protected])
TopCops has experienced steady growth and
development over the past year with our email
discussion list currently at 400 members and our
TopCops Condolence Card program expanding to
include injured and seriously ill officers, as well as,
K-9 partners.
The shirt is made of 100 % Hanes beefy cotton material. The gold lettering is on a navy or black
background.Creating a circle affect are these words...At the top of the circle is the word "TopCops" at the
bottom of the cirle are the words "from around the world" in smaller print under the cicle are the words
"on the internet" and beneath that are the words "TopCops.com Y2K issued" In the middle of the circle
is an image of a pair of hand cuffs and a glock. http://magazine.topcops.com/march/tshirts.html
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
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People come into your life for a reason, a season,
or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you
know exactly what to do.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is
usually to meet a need you have expressed
outwardly or inwardly.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty,
to provide you with guidance and support, to aid
you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at
an inconvenient time, this person will say or do
something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take
a stand. What we must realize is that our need has
been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is
now time to move on. When people come into
your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn
has come to share, grow, or learn.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
They may bring you an experience of peace or
make you laugh. They may teach you something
you have never done. They usually give you an
unbelievable amount of joy.
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime
lessons; those things you must build upon in order
to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the
person/people (any way); and put what you have
learned to use in all other relationships and areas
of your life.
Believe it! It is real!
But, only for a season.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is
clairvoyant.
This is an excellent article. My dear friend, “The SmilingPoliceman”, has asked
that it appear in our newsmagazine in hopes that our readers might find it quite
a reading experience:
March 2 - 8, 2000
URL: http://www.newtimesla.com/issues/2000-03-02/feature.html
Burying the Evidence
Before Rafael Perez, there was gangsta cop Kevin Gaines. After a white cop killed him, the
LAPD uncovered the Rampart mess. But City Hall's deep-sixing of the embarrassing homicide
suggests that the truth behind Rampart will never emerge.
By Jan Golab
More than two years ago the Los Angeles Police
Department and city officials realized that they had hired
a police officer who seemed more gang member than cop.
The cop, Kevin Gaines, was dead. While driving off-duty, Gaines had been shot in an
apparent traffic dispute with another cop, an undercover officer named Frank Lyga, who
claimed he had fired in self-defense.
Lyga and Gaines didn't know each other, and evidently neither knew the other was a police
officer. But Gaines' family and others -- including some black police officers -- suspected
there was a racial motivation for the killing of Gaines, who was black. Lyga is white. Gaines'
family hired well-known black attorneys Johnnie Cochran and Carl Douglas and sued Lyga
and the city.
The city, meanwhile, investigated the backgrounds of Lyga and Gaines in preparation for the
trial. What they found out about Gaines not only bolstered Lyga's account that he had acted
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
in self-defense, but made the LAPD aware that Gaines had unsavory ties to gangster activity
as well as a history of intimidating other motorists.
And what did the city do with that information? Buried it.
Despite the city's good prospects for winning the case -- the judge who presided over it said he
would have ruled in the city's favor in a trial -- City Attorney James Hahn worked out a
$250,000 out-of-court settlement with the Gaines family, neatly avoiding the ugly publicity a
trial would have brought.
Still, the public heard some details of Gaines' ties to the gangsta life, his lavish spending
habits, and his three-year relationship with the estranged wife of now-jailed rap mogul Marion
"Suge" Knight of L.A.'s notorious Death Row Records. But Hahn's settlement kept many
other details of Gaines' past from the public, saving the city and the LAPD substantial
embarrassment.
Now, nearly a year after that politically motivated settlement, the city is enduring a nuclear
explosion of bad press over revelations of the ganglike behavior of its police officers in the
Rampart division.
As the Rampart scandal promises to taint L.A. like nothing since the 1992 riots, several city
leaders have called for a truly independent investigation of the LAPD, rather than the
assignment of a handful of FBI agents to assist the police, as was recently done. Not trusting
police and City Hall officials to remove the cancer eating away at the department, City
Councilman Joel Wachs, state Senator Tom Hayden, the ACLU's Ramona Ripston, and others
have called for Police Chief Bernard Parks and Mayor Richard Riordan to get out of the way
and let impartial observers take over.
The city's deep-sixing of the Gaines case suggests that Wachs et al. have a point. An outside
investigation may be the only way to expose the depths of corruption in the LAPD. After all,
the thuggish life of Rampart cops that ex-officer Rafael Perez has described to investigators
might never have come to light if Perez hadn't been caught stealing cocaine from an evidence
locker.
Cocaine, that is, which had been checked into evidence by Detective Frank Lyga, and which
Perez had requested specifically by case number while using an alias. LAPD investigators say
they suspect Perez, a friend of Gaines', had checked out Lyga's cocaine in a misguided attempt
to get Lyga into trouble.
That means the Lyga-Gaines confrontation -- a case the city didn't want you to know about,
presented in full detail here for the first time from confidential LAPD and other documents -triggered what would become the mother of all police-corruption scandals.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Frank Lyga was a pretty bad-looking customer. He was driving an unmarked, beat-up
1991 Buick Regal. He wore a white tank top to show off his muscular build. He had a
long, dark Fu Manchu mustache and shoulder-length gray-streaked hair tied up in a
ponytail. On his head rested a black baseball cap with a marijuana leaf for a logo.
Lyga looked the way an undercover narcotics detective is supposed to look -- like some
badass white punk on dope who just got paroled from a maximum-security prison.
It was Tuesday, March 18, 1997. Lyga had spent the morning at a shooting range, something
he did once a month to keep up his skills. At the range he'd used a 12-gauge semiautomatic
shotgun and his semiautomatic 9-millimeter Beretta pistol -- blue steel with brown grips. His
score: 100 percent.
Lyga had then joined seven other narcs for several hours of undercover surveillance. Just
before 4 p.m., the unit decided to head back to the Hollywood station. That's where Lyga was
headed as he drove south on Ventura Boulevard in heavy traffic and stopped for a red light at
Lankershim Boulevard behind several other cars.
Questioned later at a deposition by attorney Carl Douglas, Lyga recalled that he had been
sitting at the intersection for several seconds when he noticed a green SUV, a Mitsubishi
Montero, in the lane to his left.
The Montero's driver, Kevin Gaines, wore a green jogging suit. He was leaning toward his
open passenger window and seemed to be looking past Lyga toward a Subway shop on Lyga's
right.
Lyga instinctively turned to the right to see what Gaines was staring at. Seeing nothing, he
looked back and realized that Gaines was actually peering at him.
So, Lyga told Douglas, he rolled down his window to talk to Gaines. "Could I help you?" he
asked.
Those who know Lyga says this fits with his personality.
Friends say he grew up on a dairy farm in the Adirondack foothills of upstate New York near
Syracuse. Colleagues say Lyga always wanted to be a cop and told stories of walking a beat
during blizzards for a sheriff's department in New York. After seven years there, he moved
west in 1986 to join the LAPD.
In 1990, he married a lawyer and ex-public defender. Street-smart and a quick study, Lyga
was considered a drug expert by the time he made detective in 1994. "He's a real attention-todetail kind of guy," says Doug MacDuffee, who rode with Lyga as a reserve officer trainee
and later became his good friend. "He could recognize people who were on drugs just by
looking at them. He was always very fair with everybody, always honest and aboveboard. He
never dissed anybody. And he had that rep on the streets."
Lyga had never seen Kevin Gaines in his life and had no reason to suspect the man in the car
next to him was a cop. Especially when Gaines answered Lyga's question about needing help.
"He looked directly at me and -- I don't recall the exact quote that he said, but it's something
to the effect of: "No. Roll that window up, you punk motherfucker, or I'll put a cap in your
ass. Nobody ain't looking at you, punk motherfucker,'" Lyga told Douglas.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
"Do you have a problem?" Lyga remembered responding.
"I'm your problem," Gaines answered, and added something about kicking Lyga's ass. Lyga
claimed that Gaines added to his threat with hand signals that he took to be gang signs and
again promised to cap him.
Lyga told Douglas he had no idea why Gaines was angry.
Douglas: "You had not cut him off in traffic before that?"
Lyga: "Not to my knowledge."
Douglas: "You had not used any profanity toward him?"
Lyga: "No."
Douglas: "You didn't know who he was?"
Lyga: "Never saw him before."
Douglas: "You took his words as a threat?"
Lyga: "Yes."
For a detective who had spent years around gang members, Gaines' performance was a show
Lyga said he knew all too well.
"I work in an area where numerous black gangs are associated. I see it. He had the
mannerisms and the appearance of street gang members," Lyga told Douglas. "The hand
motions were not hand signs that I recognized, but he was gesturing as do gang members that
I have dealt with in the past, and the term "I'll cap you' is a gang term commonly used with
gang members."
Lyga had encountered plenty of gangstas in his career. L.A. had a large gangsta subculture.
Some were also rappers, and a handful had become international celebrities. Just the week
before, on March 9, 1997, famed New York rap star Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, had
been gunned down in his GMC Suburban outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in the
mid-Wilshire district after a music-industry party. The key suspect was Death Row Records
honcho Suge Knight. Investigators believed the shooting was the result of a long-running feud
between Knight and New York rap kingpin Sean "Puffy" Combs. Biggie, one of Combs'
rappers, was hit, investigators believed, in retaliation for the September 1996 killing of Tupac
Shakur and wounding of Knight in Las Vegas. Knight and his stable of chart-topping L.A.
rappers -- Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre -- all had long rap sheets, violent histories, and gang
ties.
Lyga knew the gangsta scene. And he suspected that the man in the Montero yelling at him
was a part of it. Gaines was a tough-looking dude -- athletic and solidly built. He had a shaved
head and wore his green Nike jogging suit open, displaying a muscular chest. Lyga knew that
green SUVs were a popular choice for L.A. gangbangers. And Gaines' hand signals seemed
unmistakable.
Douglas, however, asked Lyga if his assessment of Gaines as a gang member had anything to
do with his race. "That had nothing to do with it," Lyga answered. "You're black. I don't think
you're a gang member," he told Douglas.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Figuring Gaines was probably armed and perhaps crazy enough to follow through on his
threat to cap him, Lyga wanted no part of him. He decided to lose Gaines with a trick.
"Let's go. Let's pull over right here," he told Gaines, acting like he was ready for a fight. If
Gaines took the bait and pulled to the curb, Lyga said he planned to gun his car and ditch him
in the heavy traffic.
Lyga almost succeeded. When the light turned green and Lyga moved ahead, Gaines
maneuvered his Montero behind Lyga's Buick and then, after the two cars had passed through
the intersection, Gaines pulled over to park in a red zone.
Lyga, however, kept driving. He told Douglas that in his rearview mirror he could see that his
ruse had infuriated Gaines, who looked like he was angrily trying to tear his steering wheel
out with both hands.
Gaines clearly wanted to get back into traffic, but a heavy flow of cars prevented him. After
about 10 cars passed, he was able to pull away from the curb. Lyga could see him weaving the
Montero aggressively. Gaines even pulled into northbound lanes, against traffic, to catch up to
Lyga.
That's when Lyga made his first radio call.
His radio was hidden in the Buick. A button to open the microphone was down near his left
foot. The mic itself was installed at the top of his windshield, behind a visor. Lyga told
Douglas he pressed the button to activate the mic, then broadcast on a channel he knew would
be monitored by his seven undercover colleagues, just a block or so behind him.
"I think I've got a problem," Lyga recalled saying. "I've got a black guy in a green Jeep that's
on me. I need you guys up here."
Meanwhile, Lyga was barely managing to inch ahead in the dense afternoon traffic. Behind
him, he could see Gaines maniacally weaving between cars to get back up to him. "Where are
you guys?" Lyga said into his radio.
He described Gaines again. A black guy in a green jogging suit in a green SUV. Ahead, Lyga
could see that the light at Regal Place was changing. He knew he'd soon be stuck at the Studio
City intersection. There were about four cars in front of him when he came to a stop.
Lyga put his Beretta in his lap.
Douglas asked him why he had done so, and Lyga said that when Gaines had threatened to
cap him, he believed Gaines was armed and would shoot him. He sent another radio message
that he thought Gaines had a weapon.
When a car in the lane to Lyga's left ran a red light, the others behind it moved up, leaving a
space next to Lyga.
Gaines pulled into it. Lyga said that seconds later, he saw Gaines pull a stainless-steel
handgun from his chest area, aim at Lyga, and repeat his threat to "cap you, motherfucker."
"It scared me pretty bad, and I leaned forward to get out of the line of fire. I hit my chest on
the steering wheel and released the brake, and moved my car forward a foot, foot and a half,
before I recovered and came back on the window," Lyga told Douglas.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
With cars in front of and behind him and nowhere to pull out, Lyga was trapped. "He's got a
gun!" he yelled into his radio. Lyga aimed his Beretta over his left shoulder and fired. Less
than two seconds later, he fired again. Lyga said he knew his first shot had gone harmlessly
into Gaines' passenger door, but suspected the second had hit Gaines. "His eyes got very large.
He had what appeared to be a grimace on his face. His facial expression changed, and his right
arm, which was still holding the weapon facing me, pointing to me, went directly to the
steering wheel."
An autopsy showed that the second bullet had entered Gaines' right side, punctured his heart,
and came to rest in his left lung. Gaines was doomed. But for several seconds, he continued to
live. Long enough, at least, to pull his car into the left lane and make a U-turn.
A woman who witnessed the incident told investigators that as Gaines careened around, he
seemed to have a strange grin on his face and was beating the steering wheel with his right
hand.
Lyga followed Gaines as he radioed again. He remembers saying something like "I just shot
this guy! I need help! Get up here!"
Gaines' car lurched into the ARCO station at 3704 Cahuenga Boulevard, clipped a Jeep, hit a
wall, and stopped.
Lyga parked behind him, and witnesses agreed with his account that he identified himself as a
police officer and yelled at a gas station customer to call 911. With his LAPD badge hanging
on a chain around his neck, Lyga approached the Montero with both hands on his gun. He
yelled at Gaines to get out of the car, but the fatally wounded man didn't move.
Two CHP officers in cruisers, Manuel Gill and David Duenas, had heard the shots and pulled
into the parking lot. Duenas yelled at Lyga to drop his weapon, but Lyga identified himself as
a cop. Lyga then backed off as Duenas approached the Montero. "It's yours, it's yours," Lyga
said, according to a confidential LAPD investigative report obtained by New Times. "This guy
pointed a gun at me and I shot him," Lyga told the CHP officers.
Duenas opened Gaines' door. On the car floor, near Gaines' feet, rested a stainless-steel
handgun.
Gaines was dead. But in standard police procedure, the CHP officers and Lyga's undercover
colleagues, who had also converged on the scene, pulled Gaines from his car so that he lay
facedown on the gas station's tarmac.
Then they handcuffed the corpse.
Three hours later, Lyga found out he'd killed another police officer. The incident made
international headlines: "Cop Kills Cop."
The Montero turned out to be registered in the name of Sharitha Knight, estranged wife of
Death Row Records' Suge Knight, who was then in jail. Investigators expressed concern over
Gaines' possible association with Suge Knight, but no mention was made of his gangsta
threats or persona. Meanwhile, media trucks parked outside Lyga's Ventura County home for
a week as journalists vainly waited to interview him.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
The case polarized a police force already deeply divided by race. The morning after the
shooting, a group of 30 blacks, including some police officers, showed up at the shooting
scene and began canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses. An employee of a small coffee
company who had already talked to police was so intimidated by this group -- she felt they
were pressuring her to alter her account -- that she reported them to the official investigators.
The proprietor of a bicycle shop next door, now deceased, also felt the heat. "They were kind
of trying to tell him what happened," says the owner's son, who was also there at the time and
spoke to New Times on condition of anonymity.
The black group was led by an off-duty LAPD officer, Derwin Henderson, an ex-partner and
good friend of Gaines. Documents show that Henderson was later officially reprimanded for
interfering with an investigation.
Meanwhile, LAPD Sergeant Leonard Ross, president of the Oscar Joel Bryant Association, a
black officers group, told the Daily News that some in the LAPD had envied Gaines.
"People...were jealous of the things he had -- he had a nice lifestyle going. I'll say it, there
were a number of officers, who weren't black, who were jealous of his ability and resources."
The L.A. Times reported that Ross had concerns over "unanswered questions" and that Gaines
had complained of being the victim of racial harassment and discrimination on the job. (A
confidential investigator's log obtained by New Times shows that Ross was later accused by an
LAPD investigator of "engaging in conduct which was interfering with this investigation.")
Police Watch, a citizen activist group, voiced concern that race may have played a part in the
shooting. And Gaines' family branded the LAPD's investigation a whitewash even though it
had just begun. They described Gaines as "conscientious, understanding, compassionate, and
an easygoing, caring father of two."
LAPD Sergeant Ronnie Cato, the Oscar Joel Bryant Association's vice president, told Louis
Farrakhan's paper, The Final Call: "It's easy for us to have the perception that the department
is going to cover up." Online postings portrayed the shooting as suspicious and Gaines as a
target of the LAPD, and claimed that Lyga had known Gaines and that "physical evidence
points to a police cover-up."
On March 21, three days after the shooting, Gaines' family hired attorney Johnnie Cochran.
His associate Carl Douglas claimed at Gaines' funeral that "preliminary results from an
independent autopsy did not appear to match the coroner's findings." A week later, about 40
black police officers, family members, and friends met at the First African Methodist
Episcopal Church to express their anger and grief over Gaines' killing. The Inglewood City
Council presented Gaines' family with a plaque, recognizing him as an "honorable and fine
police officer" who was "killed in the line of duty."
When Douglas and Cochran filed a $25 million wrongful-death claim against the city of L.A.
on May 29, 1997, they alleged that Lyga was "an aggressive and dangerous police officer"
who conspired to "hide and distort the true facts concerning the incident." Their subsequent
lawsuit alleged that Lyga "had a history of being a dangerous and violent employee."
Lyga's colleagues say he was called a racist, ostracized by many in the department, and
received death threats. His personnel file disappeared for 18 months, jeopardizing his personal
security. LAPD sources say they believe the file or its contents may have been passed to
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Johnnie Cochran for use against Lyga in the Gaines family's lawsuit, but Carl Douglas denies
that he or Cochran ever had access to Lyga's employment history. Confidential memos
obtained by New Times indicate that the LAPD is still trying to determine who removed
Lyga's file.
Despite the pressure, Lyga stuck to his story. "He pointed that gun at me, telling me that he
was going to cap me," he told investigators from the LAPD's officer-involved shooting unit. "I
was in fear for my life. I fired in self-defense."
Evidence backed him up. Lyga's radio calls were heard by his backup team as well as a
secretary at the Hollywood station. Their accounts supported his own, as did those of several
eyewitnesses who saw parts of the confrontation. No one saw Gaines' gun during the incident,
but one witness saw his fully extended arm pointed at Lyga. The ARCO station's security
camera, meanwhile, captured the two vehicles arriving in front of the station exactly as Lyga
described. The video didn't show the actual shooting, but the audio recorded the two gunshots.
Lyga said he had fired in a "controlled pattern," waiting two seconds between shots -- a
substantial pause in such a situation. Tape analysis confirmed the shots were indeed fired 1.8
seconds apart. And Gaines' gun was found not by Lyga but by CHP officer David Duenas.
The weapon was registered to Gaines, making it highly unlikely that it was planted.
Lyga and Gaines had never worked together and did not know each other.
A check of Lyga's background turned up four complaints of excessive force, each of which
had resulted in exoneration. In one incident, an arrestee waited eight months before
complaining that Lyga had tightened handcuffs too much. Another time, Lyga wrestled with
an arrestee who struggled. Taking the man down, Lyga broke the suspect's nose. (The man got
a $40,000 settlement from the city.) Lyga kicked another complainant in the back to keep him
from standing as his partner searched him. (They found a pistol in his boot.) In the last
complaint, the allegations (a tackle and a punch) were found to be false; Lyga was not present
when the purported abuse occurred.
Bernard Parks, then a deputy police chief, had Lyga's personnel package gone over with a
fine-tooth comb. Every use of force Lyga had employed in 10 years of arrests -- not just those
resulting in complaints -- was reexamined by Internal Affairs and broken down in numerous
ways, including by race. According to a confidential Internal Affairs document obtained by
New Times, Lyga had used force 17 times against black suspects, 12 times with white
suspects, five times against Hispanics, and twice against "others." All but one, a shooting,
were minor: there were 12 wristlocks, nine pepper spray incidents, and seven "swarms" -arrests in which several officers rush a suspect at once. He'd never used a taser or baton. In his
only other shooting, Lyga had fired twice (and missed) at a shotgun-wielding drug dealer. The
shooting was found to be within departmental rules.
The LAPD went to extraordinary lengths to shake Lyga's account. Sources say this was due in
part to threats by Cochran that he had "new information" that would embarrass the LAPD.
Investigators twice ran radio communication tests at the shooting scene to verify that it was a
"dead spot," explaining why Lyga's broadcasts hadn't been picked up at Parker Center. They
ordered an additional autopsy report and conducted bullet-trajectory studies with lasers.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
After reviewing the report of the officer-involved shooting unit, Parks found Lyga's actions
within LAPD policy, and a three-member department shooting board agreed. But after
clearing Lyga, Parks, in a most unusual move, authorized an expensive, computer-generated
3-D video re-creation of the shooting. The first board ruling was nullified, and a second
shooting board was convened. The second board cleared him, too. After twice reviewing the
evidence, the civilian Police Commission unanimously concurred with Parks that the shooting
was within policy and that Lyga's actions were appropriate. In addition, the District Attorney's
Special Investigations Division concluded in a confidential report that "Lyga acted lawfully in
self-defense."
Meanwhile, the LAPD also quietly delved into Kevin Gaines' background. What they found
out about him, however, was deeply disturbing. Confidential documents that reveal these
findings were obtained by New Times. They include the LAPD's 20-page officer-involved
shooting report, the district attorney's seven-page report, Parks' five-page summary to the
Police Commission, and numerous investigator notes. New Times also spoke to a number of
the investigators who agreed to talk on the condition that they not be identified.
According to the District Attorney's report, Gaines' run-in with Lyga wasn't his first episode
of road rage. "Three separate documented incidents were discovered where Gaines had
escalated minor traffic disputes into threatening confrontations," the report said. "A fourth
incident was under investigation by the Internal Affairs Division at the time of Gaines' death."
Gaines, it seems, had a pattern of bullying and intimidating motorists by brandishing a gun,
just as he had with Lyga. In two of those previous cases, Gaines had unwittingly threatened
police officers. "I ought to cap you. I ought to blow your motherfucking head off," Gaines
screamed at one driver.
Gaines also lived an opulent lifestyle for a police officer. Estranged from his wife, he had lots
of girls, drove a Mercedes, wore $5,000 suits and $1,000 Versace shirts, and loved to party at
nightclubs. The Mercedes bore vanity plates reading ITS OK IA -- a brash taunt to Internal
Affairs.
Georgia Renee Gaines, his wife and mother of his two children, said in a deposition that she
caught him with one of his "female friends" on a trip to Vegas in 1996. She admitted that she
had filed a number of domestic battery complaints against him because "I knew I could get
him in trouble." She stated: "Kevin and I always had a rocky relationship, where we would get
together, break up, and get back together."
For a year before he was shot, Gaines had been living with Sharitha Knight, Suge's ex and
Snoop Dogg's manager. Sharitha Knight testified in a deposition that she had dated Gaines
exclusively since March 1994. The Montero, which had a customized interior with TVs and
VCRs, had been a gift from Suge Knight. She said she knew of only one meeting between
Suge Knight and Gaines, a Las Vegas encounter that she feared would turn violent (It didn't).
She said she enjoyed sending Versace shirts to Gaines at his police station.
"I picked out all his clothes," she said, "so he was kind of...overabundantly flashy for a police
officer."
In another deposition obtained by New Times, Gaines' ex-partner and friend, Derwin
Henderson, said that after they got off work at the West L.A. Division, the two cops "hit every
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
club you could hit up. We were in the club scene then." Henderson also said his buddy "was
probably busted 100 times for meeting [women] on duty." He and Gaines went to Hollywood
Park three times a week, he said, and made frequent trips to Vegas. Henderson claimed he
made $20,000 a year at the track and that Gaines made six or seven grand in a day in Vegas.
Besides his Mercedes (Henderson had a Mercedes, too), Gaines owned a BMW and an
Explorer, and drove Sharitha's green Mercedes, black Corvette, and green Montero.
Henderson said he worked one off-duty security job with Gaines -- a Snoop Dogg family
reunion -- and noted that Gaines always kept his Smith & Wesson 9-millimeter handgun in his
car.
At the time of his death, Internal Affairs was investigating Gaines not only for his clashes
with motorists but for an odd incident one night at Sharitha Knight's Studio City home.
LAPD sources say Gaines had called police to report an assault by a prowler at Knight's house
and described himself as the suspect -- a black man, 5' 10", 30 years old. After the cops
arrived, Gaines pulled up in his Mercedes. The officers began questioning him, and Gaines
became belligerent and deliberately provoked them. "He tried to get them to pop him one,"
explains an investigator.
The incident was detailed in the DA's report: "On August 16, 1996, LAPD officers from
North Hollywood patrol responded to a radio broadcast of an ADW (assault with a deadly
weapon) just occurred, shots fired, a possible victim down by the pool area. The call took the
officers to...the residence of Sharitha Knight. When they arrived, Officer Gaines, who was
off-duty, initially answered a few questions of the officers, but became uncooperative and
refused to allow the officers access to the residence. Gaines was handcuffed after he
intentionally bumped Officer [Teddy Gonzalez]. While being detained, Gaines became very
profane. Gaines stated, "I got seven years on the department...I work at Pacific [division] and
you motherfuckers are not coming in. Tell these motherfuckin' assholes to take the cuffs off of
me, motherfucker.' He also stated that he hated the LAPD and sheriffs and that he hated
"fucking cops.' Those who have listened to the tape recording of the ADW call to the police
department have identified the voice of the caller as that of Kevin Gaines. Despite the above,
Gaines retained counsel and filed a notice of claim, an act that must precede an actual
lawsuit."
Explains one investigator: "Kevin Gaines was trying to secure income for the rest of his life
by claiming that the department discriminated against him, which wasn't the case. They
caught him red-handed. He was hinting to his friends all the time that he was going to leave
the department. "I don't need this job,' he told them." Gaines would have been fired from the
LAPD for that incident, sources say, but it was never made public.
Gaines had been involved in other run-ins with fellow officers. Once, while riding in a
limousine, he stuck his head through the moonroof, flipped the bird at some passing cops, and
yelled, "Fuck the police." When they pulled him over, he again tried to incite them before he
finally identified himself as a cop, sources say. Gaines also had been found guilty of stealing
another cop's customized handcuffs and scratching out his initials. He escaped dismissal for
that offense, sources say, because Internal Affairs misplaced the complaint until the statute of
limitations had run out.
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Most troubling of all, however, was Gaines' association with Death Row. Sources say Gaines
was being followed by FBI agents, who suspected him of moving drugs and money around
L.A. for Suge Knight. According to investigators' notes obtained by New Times, a drugsniffing dog that checked out the Montero "showed strong interest for the odor of narcotics in
the rear passenger area of the vehicle," although none were found. Gaines had told a number
of people that he was being followed by the FBI, and Sharitha Knight testified that Gaines
believed he was being watched from helicopters.
The FBI will neither confirm nor deny whether it was shadowing Gaines. The agency has
never confirmed it is investigating Death Row, even though its probe of the record company's
links to street gangs, drug trafficking, money laundering, and violent acts has been widely
reported.
LAPD investigators concluded that Gaines didn't maintain his lifestyle on his policeman's
salary. He had nine credit cards and a "lot" of credit-card debt, they say. One receipt in
particular got their attention. On February 8, 1997, a month before he was killed, Gaines
dropped $952 on lunch for himself and some friends at Monty's steak house in Westwood.
Monty's was a well-known hangout for Death Row posses. A cop making $55,000 a year
drops a yard on lunch at a gangsta hangout? Maybe he should just wear a sign, investigators
thought.
Lyga testified that a gang member told him Gaines was a member of the Inglewood Family
Bloods and that he worked for Suge Knight, long associated with Compton's Mob Piru
Bloods. Lyga also said that after the shooting, he heard from several officers that Gaines had
tried to recruit other cops to work Death Row parties at $250 an hour. Lyga told attorney Carl
Douglas that Gaines and his colleagues did the work without seeking the required permission.
A retired LAPD detective tells New Times that such unapproved extracurricular work is
coveted by a close group of officers. "They are paid very well for it, and the department is not
aware of it. They keep it among themselves." Over the past two years, a half dozen officers
have been suspended for working off-duty gigs for Death Row without the required permits.
An LAPD sergeant was fired for working with Death Row in Las Vegas on the night Tupac
was killed.
LAPD gumshoes looked hard not just at Gaines but at several other officers and their
connections to Death Row or gangsters. (At one time, sources say, as many as 25 black cops
were suspected of having gang ties.) One was a friend of Gaines', former LAPD officer David
Mack, who has become a suspect in the 1997 shooting death of Notorious B.I.G.
A onetime University of Oregon track star, Mack had grown up in the same Compton
neighborhood as Suge Knight. Death Row associates interviewed by LAPD investigators
stated that Gaines and Mack attended numerous Death Row parties and functions together.
What was interesting, explains one LAPD detective, was that "Mack and Gaines appeared to
be something more than bodyguards. They didn't work for Wrightway Security (Death Row's
security firm). They appeared to be confidants of Suge Knight." Mack and his ex-partner and
best friend, Officer Rafael Perez, also lived very large for a pair of cops: nightclubs, girls,
fancy cars, nice clothes, frequent trips to Vegas and on Caribbean cruises. Perez would later
admit to investigators that he stole cocaine to support a gambling habit and to entertain his
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many girlfriends at fancy clubs and restaurants, including Monty's. "There was no question
that Gaines and Mack and Perez all knew each other," says one investigator.
In December 1997, Mack was arrested for robbing a Bank of America branch on Jefferson
Boulevard the month before. He took $772,000, most of which has not been recovered. Two
accomplices have never been caught. When detectives arrested Mack at his home, they found
$5,600 in cash, receipts for $20,000 in recent purchases, a statement for a $7,000 bank
deposit, and a "shrine" to Tupac Shakur. They also learned that two days after the bank job,
Mack, Perez, and another cop, Samuel Martin Jr. -- one of the officers currently suspended in
the Rampart probe -- partied with girlfriends at a glitzy Vegas hotel. They blew $21,000 in a
weekend, staying in a $1,500-a-night suite. Later, in prison, Mack declared that he was a
member of the Bloods.
Investigators of the Notorious B.I.G. murder interviewed witnesses who put Mack at the scene
of the shooting. Mack, they suspected, arranged for a longtime friend, Amir Muhammad, aka
Harry Billups, to do the hit for Suge Knight. Billups, who remains at large, matches the
shooter's composite drawn from witness accounts.
On February 5, 1998, a month after Lyga's shooting of Gaines was ruled proper by Chief
Parks and the Police Commission, a package of cocaine Lyga had booked into evidence
disappeared from an evidence locker. At first, his colleagues say, Internal Affairs was all over
Lyga, thinking he was the culprit. But before long, they focused on a new suspect, Rafael
Perez. After a six-month investigation, Perez was arrested in August 1998 for stealing eight
pounds of cocaine in four installments.
The L.A. Times later reported that investigators were exploring the theory that Lyga's cocaine
was targeted by Perez. What the Times did not report was that Perez did not simply walk into
an evidence room and take Lyga's cocaine.
Lyga's cocaine was stored at the downtown headquarters of the DA's Special Investigations
Division. Perez called up the evidence-control unit there, gave identifying numbers for Lyga's
evidence, and had it delivered to him at Rampart Station. Also, Perez identified himself with
another officer's serial number, that of Armando Coronado. Coronado had earlier gone to
Perez's supervisor over a beef with Perez. (Perez has since implicated Coronado in Rampart
wrongdoing, accusing him of falsely reporting that he had obtained consent to search a home
where marijuana was found.)
Investigators are convinced that Perez was trying to retaliate against Lyga and Coronado. The
theft of Lyga's dope, says one detective, "was not coincidental. Somehow, some way, they
were going to make Lyga's life miserable. All of these guys (Perez, Gaines, and Mack) knew
each other. They had worked together or they were friends." But if that was Perez's plan, it
backfired. The evidence control clerk who took the order recognized Perez's voice.
An initial trial for the cocaine theft resulted in a hung jury, but while a jury was being selected
for a second trial, Perez decided to plead guilty. Facing up to 12 years in prison, he cut a deal
and began talking, alleging a host of improper shootings, evidence planting, false arrests,
witness intimidation, beatings, theft, drug dealing, and perjury involving Rampart officers that
has mushroomed into the worst LAPD scandal in 60 years. After tearfully warning other
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young cops not to become addicted to the power of their jobs, Perez was sentenced last week
to five years in prison.
Despite strong evidence indicating not only that Lyga had acted in self-defense but that
Gaines had a history of violent traffic confrontations and gangsta associations, City
Attorney James Hahn decided he did not want to battle Johnnie Cochran in a civil trial.
That's not surprising, given the political circumstances. Hahn is running for mayor, and many
of his most fervent supporters are blacks in South L.A. Hahn, who is white, inherited this
unlikely constituency from his late father, county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, who long
represented South L.A. and remains a legendary figure there. Among other things, the elder
Hahn was responsible for construction of Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center, an
institution cherished by many blacks.
So Hahn Jr. can't have been eager to go head-to-head with America's most famous black
lawyer, the man who got O.J. off, in a trial in which Hahn would be defending a white cop
reviled by some blacks as a racist killer. Win or lose in court, the case would probably cost
Hahn black votes.
"One, he took care of Johnnie Cochran," says one City Council member of Hahn's motives for
settling. "Cochran is a huge Hahn supporter. Second, the chief wanted [the settlement] too,
quite frankly. He wanted peace. The department didn't want to get into an inevitable battle
with a white cop shooting a black cop and having to say that the black cop was wrong.
"They paid all this money out to keep all this quiet, so everybody would just sort of go away.
If you really wanted to protect the city, you'd go with the case, let it go where it was going to
go -- regardless." The council member says Hahn had two imperatives: "Don't do something
that would hurt you in the black community, and don't go against Johnnie Cochran. That's
absolutely what Hahn was thinking."
Deputy City Attorney Cory Brente, who had been preparing the case for trial, says he was
ready for court and held some strong legal cards: "Frank [Lyga] adamantly opposed a
settlement. He wanted a trial. He wanted the truth to come out. [Cochran and Carl Douglas]
had no evidence against him, despite all their efforts."
Nonetheless, Brente's boss, Hahn, gave Gaines' family $250,000 in taxpayer funds in May
1999 to make the case go away. Chief Assistant City Attorney Thomas Hokinson, who
negotiated the settlement, which was also approved by Parks, explained that although the city
had a good case, there was no guarantee a jury would see it that way. An adverse jury verdict,
he argued, could have cost the city far more than the $250,000 settlement.
Hokinson denied the settlement was politically motivated. "I'm the one who was at the
settlement conferences," he said. A spokesman for Parks declined comment.
The deal caused a brief uproar at City Hall, but mostly because of the way it was structured.
Hahn's office had set up the settlement so it would escape City Council review, an end run
that pissed off several council members. Hahn's office had arranged for each of the three
plaintiffs -- Gaines' wife and two daughters -- to receive less than $100,000, the threshold at
which the deal automatically would undergo council scrutiny.
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Told full details of Gaines' unsavory background, City Councilwoman Laura Chick, one of
those who criticized the settlement at the time, said: "It strengthens my original concern and
outrage that a case was settled in a way that kept it from being discussed by the City Council
and kept from public view....While I always want to protect taxpayer dollars, I don't ever want
to do it at the expense of the truth coming forward or of justice being done."
The deal even came under attack by the
judge who approved it. In a letter to Parks,
Superior Court Judge R. William Schoettler
wrote: "I am in agreement... that Detective
Lyga acted in accordance with LAPD
guidelines at all relevant times. Had the
matter been submitted to me for
determination, I would have found in favor
of the city of Los Angeles. However...both
sides indicated a desire to resolve the matter
without the publicity attendant upon a court
or jury trial. All of the involved parties,
including counsel for both sides, recognized
the potential for this case to draw significant
adverse media attention for the LAPD and
the City of Los Angeles. As you are aware,
the settlement can be termed 'political,' and
neither the fact of the settlement nor the
amount involved should in any way reflect
upon the conduct of Detective Lyga."
Lyga's friends say the decision to settle devastated him. "Frank was doing everything right,
and Kevin Gaines was doing everything wrong," says one of Lyga's former partners. "But
then it became a race issue and Frank got slimed by the press... [The LAPD] looked up
Frank's ass with a microscope, but they couldn't find anything wrong."
What investigators did find wrong about Gaines was kept quiet by the LAPD and Hahn. Now,
with the department struggling with much wider allegations of corruption, Chief Parks and
Mayor Riordan say there's no need for an independent investigation of the Rampart scandal.
They promise to get to the bottom of things and tell us all about it.
New Times staff writer Tony Ortega contributed to this story.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent
of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.
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(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Greetings:
My name is Bob Brower, I am the Director of the Scotts Bluff County Communications Center E/911 in
Gering, Nebraska.
Our office is next to our combined drug unit WING or West Nebraska Intelligence and Narcotics group.
Our group is still a tad behind time and they do not have internet access so they have been using my office
connection [e-mail [email protected]] to some research.
We learned today that a Juvenile Female attended a party in the past 30 days and during the party she had
smoked marijuana. The Juvenile female has now been experiencing flash backs [our thought is it's LSD]
as a result of smoking the marijuana, she states the joint was soaked in something and she gave us the
name of CREEP, CREAP, KREEP something of that nature.
We did several net searchs today trying to find any data we could on this including DEA site and nothing
so far, all other associtated officers with the group [contains members for our entire Nebraska Panhandle
and State Patrol office] have not heart of this.
Our feeling again is that this may be a new LSD slang as it matches the flash back portion..PCP can be
added but we are not finding anything that related to flashbacks in the use of PCP.
Our female victim at this point refuses to talk to any of our people [imagine that] so the information is
real limited at this time and of course the people who first saw her a few days after her experience neve
called anyone or ran any tests so we are not sure what we have.
I can have the investigator working on this send you a fax if you would like for confirmation. I can also
be contacted at my office at 308 436 5880 from 0730-1600 MST each day and I can put anyone in touch
with the investigator working this as well if needed. We do appreciate any help or assistance you or
anyone else could provide.
Thanks,
Bob Brower
Gering, Nebraska
308 436 5880 office
please forward any response to my office adr @ [email protected], that way I can have contact with
the officer also read the mail and he can get a print out of any data.
Submit your jokes, articles and Stories to
TopCops Newsmagazine to share with our
membership and readers. Email
[email protected]
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
A young boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father, who was a minister, if they could discuss
his use of the car.
His father said to him, "I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study your bible a little, and get
your hair cut, then we will talk about it."
A month later the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss his use of the car.
His father said, "Son, I'm real proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you've studied your bible
diligently, but you didn't get hair cut!"
The young man waited a moment and replied, "You know dad, I've been thinking about that. You know
Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair."
His father replied, "Yes son, and they walked everywhere they went!"
A depressed young woman was so desperate that she
decided to end her life by throwing herself in the ocean.
When she went down to the docks, a handsome young
sailor noticed her tears and took pity on her.
"Look, you've got a lot to live for." he said. "I'm off to
America in the morning, and if you like, I can stow you
away on my ship. I'll take good care of you and bring you
food every day."
Moving closer, he slipped an arm around her shoulder,
winked at her and added I'll keep you happy, and you'll
keep me happy."
The girl nodded. After all, what did she have to lose?
That night, the sailor brought her abroad and hid her in a
lifeboat.
From then on, every night he brought her three
sandwiches and a piece of fruit, and they shagged
furiously.
Three weeks later, during a routine search, she was
discovered by the Captain.
"What are you doing here?" the Captain asked."I have an
arrangement with one of the sailors,"
she explained, "I get to go to America, and in return he's
screwing me."
"He certainly is," the Captain replied, "This is the
Rottnest ferry"
Origins Of A Man's Sex Life
It seems that when the Lord was making the world,
he called man over and bestowed upon him twenty years of
normal sex life.
Man was horrified. "Only twenty years of normal sex
life?" but the Lord was adamant, that was all man could
have.
Then the Lord called the monkey and gave him twenty
years.
"But I don't need twenty years". he protested, "ten is plenty
for me."
Man spoke up eagerly,
" Can I have the other ten?" The monkey graciously agreed.
Then the Lord called the lion and gave him twenty
years, and lion, like the monkey only wanted ten. Again the
man spoke up,
"Can I have the other ten?"
The lion said of course he could.
Then came the donkey and he was given twenty years
but like the others,
ten was sufficient - and again man pleaded,
" Can I have the other ten?"
The donkey said yes he could.
This explains why man has twenty years of normal sex life,
plus ten years of monkeying around,
ten years of lion about it,
and ten years of making an ass of himself.
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Tuesday, April 11, 2000
Two Mass. men indicted for beating police chief, ex-councilor
ALFRED, Maine (AP) — Two Massachusetts men accused of beating the Old Orchard
Beach police chief and the former Town Council chairman last summer have been
indicted on felony and misdemeanor assault charges.
The York County grand jury handed up the indictments against Todd Mullen, 23, of
Townsend, Mass., and Jacob Olson 25, of Pepperell, Mass.
Police Chief Dana Kelley suffered a broken rib, chipped teeth and a cracked jaw while
trying to help ex-councilor Marc Bourassa quiet a group of rowdy men.
Bourassa said he was chatting with Kelley outside a motel during the Fourth of July
weekend when a group of men started a commotion nearby.
“They were screaming obscenities, acting like idiots,” Bourassa said. “There were a
bunch of women and kids around, and I asked them to quiet down.”
Bourassa said one of the men hit him under the chin, prompting Kelley, who was not in
uniform, to come to his aid. Kelley said he identified himself as the town’s police chief
and asked the men to stop.
Instead, a fight erupted and both Bourassa and the chief ended up on the ground.
Kelley was kicked and punched and Bourassa’s head was slammed into the sidewalk.
The fight ended about five minutes later when police officers arrived and issued the
two men summonses to appear in court.
According to the indictments handed up last week, Mullen faces one felony charge of
assault on a police officer, two misdemeanor assault charges and a disorderly conduct
charge. He faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted.
Olson faces felony charges of assault on a police officer and aggravated assault, and
two misdemeanor assault charges. He was also indicted on disorderly conduct and
resisting arrest charges. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years.
District Attorney Michael P. Cantara said arraignments for the two men will be
scheduled for later this month.
CPS had investigated DeSoto officers’ home 5 years ago
04/12/2000
By Tim Wyatt / The Dallas Morning News
Child Protective Services caseworkers investigated the home of two DeSoto police officers
five years ago but took no action because abuse allegations could not be substantiated,
according to CPS documents.
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Lt. William Homer Ransom, 53, and his wife, Sgt. Judith Corkran Ransom, 54, were indicted last week
and jailed Tuesday on charges of abusing a 13-year-old relative physically and sexually. Their attorney
said the couple adamantly deny the allegations.
In documents obtained today by The Dallas Morning News, a CPS caseworker says a 1995 CPS referral
against the couple went nowhere because the boy and his older sister did not implicate their caretakers.
CPS caseworker Christi Campbell said in a Feb. 4 affidavit that the girl, now 16, acknowledges that she
and her brother “covered for her mom and nothing ever came of the investigation,” according to the
documents.
The girl indicated she lied out of fear of the Ransoms, Ms. Campbell said.
Both children were removed from the Ransoms’ rural Ellis County home immediately after the latest
allegation.
The CPS documents paint a horrific picture of the childrens’ lives, starting with abuse by their biological
parents in San Antonio. Both children were removed from their parents in 1992 because they had been
sexually abused by their father and physically abused by their mother. The records indicate their father
served prison time for the abuse.
The girl told Ms. Campbell that her brother “messes on himself” as a result of sexual abuse by his father.
DeSoto Police Chief Mike Brodnax said Lt. Ransom and Sgt. Ransom have worked for his department for
about 20 years. Last year, Sgt. Ransom was voted Officer of the Year, he said.
“They’re exemplary employees,” said Chief Brodnax, who added that he has known the couple for about
three years. “This caught us completely off-guard.”
Lt. Ransom was indicted on one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and nine counts of injury to
a child. Sgt. Ransom faces one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and three counts of injury to a
child. DeSoto police officials said the Ransoms have been placed on leave without pay but can use
vacation and sick time.
Police want allegations of racism cleared up
Settlement of a suit by former Riverside officer Rene Rodriguez leaves the complaints unresolved.
By Lisa O'Neill Hill
The Press-Enterprise
RIVERSIDE
Three months ago, the Riverside police officer
who reported racial comments made by
colleagues after police killed Tyisha Miller
quietly left the department after receiving a
settlement from the city.
In return for a disability retirement and a
$92,000 check, Rene Rodriguez, withdrew a
state complaint claiming discrimination and a
hostile work environment.
Now, both Rodriguez's supporters and police
union officials want to know the status of his
allegations of racial profiling, inappropriate
comments and other behavior that the former
officer had outlined in the complaint and a
related 39-page statement. Investigators have
confirmed that officers made racial remarks
after Miller's death, but some say there is
nothing to support Rodriguez's claims of
wider-scale racial problems within the Police
Department.
"The city went ahead and settled before we
were able to find out what was true and what
was not true," said Riverside Police Sgt. Jay
Theuer, president of the Riverside Police
Officers' Association. "You have a person
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who can make a bunch of statements and
can walk away."
true or whether anyone has been disciplined
in connection with them.
Theuer has said Rodriguez has "trashed" the
Police Department.
Rodriguez came into the limelight after
reporting comments made after the Dec. 28,
1998 police shooting death of Miller, a 19year-old black Rubidoux woman.
UCR music professor Rene Lysloff, a
Rodriguez supporter, said the Police
Department isolated and shunned the former
officer to such an extent that the officer had
no choice but to settle. Rodriguez has said he
did not go back to work for months because
he feared retaliation for reporting the remarks.
"There is that issue of what happens after the
settlement," Lysloff said. "We need to talk to
Rene . . . Whatever he decides to do needs to
be respected because no one can imagine
what he has gone through."
Four officers found her sitting unresponsive
with a gun on her lap inside a locked and
idling car at a Riverside gas station. The
officers said they fired when she reached
toward the weapon.
Rodriguez, a dark-skinned Puerto Rican who
had been with the department for 10 months
when Miller was shot, arrived at the gas
station shortly after the incident.
In a recent telephone conversation,
Rodriguez said he signed an agreement with
the city that prevents him from talking about
the settlement.
He said the officers who shot Miller laughed,
made "whooping sounds" and gave each
other high fives. An attorney representing
the officers has said Rodriguez sloppily
misinterpreted what happened.
"I'm just trying to get my life back together
and move on," Rodriguez said. "I've done all I
can. It's really out of my hands. There are a
lot of outside agencies that were investigating
(the Police Department) that have the
information."
After the shooting, a police supervisor
referred to Miller's family as a gathering of
blacks at a Kwanzaa celebration, and another
officer called their cries of pain death wails.
Those comments have been verified by
independent investigations.
His attorney, Connie Rice, could not be
reached for comment.
Several of Rodriguez's claims regarding
incidents surrounding the Miller shooting were
substantiated, said Riverside County Chief
Deputy District Attorney Mike Soccio. But
Soccio said his office could not find evidence
of a larger racial problem within the Police
Department.
Rodriguez's allegations are still part of a
"patterns and practices" investigation being
conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office,
which is looking into whether Riverside
officers and administrators have engaged in
misconduct ranging from excessive force to
racial discrimination.
That probe is continuing, said Thom Mrozek,
spokesman for the office, and it is uncertain
how long the investigation will take, he said.
Riverside police Lt. Bob Meier, who is in
change of the internal affairs division, said
every allegation Rodriguez has made has
been investigated. He said he could not
comment on whether the allegations were
"We couldn't find any evidence of
institutionalized racism or stereotyping or
anything like that," Soccio said.
Theuer, the union president, said he
approached minority officers after Rodriguez
and a black officer alleged there was a hostile
working environment within the department.
Theuer said he wanted to know if minority
officers believed the same thing.
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"I haven't had any indication we've had any widespread racist behavior by any of our
department personnel," Theuer said. After reporting the racial comments, Rodriguez refused to
return to work for several months because, he said, he feared retaliation from other officers.
In August 1999, he filed the complaint with the state Department of Fair Employment and
Housing. He also released a 39-page document in which he alleged, among other things, that
senior officers taught him to engage in racial profiling and that officers stopped black and
Hispanic motorists based on their race. He named officers who he said had made derogatory
statements about members of minority groups. In October, he appeared on "60 Minutes" to
describe his alleged mistreatment by his fellow officers.
In December, he was placed on paid administrative leave after speaking with the Police
Department's internal affairs investigators for the first time. He left the department Jan. 11 and
was given a disability retirement.
The city paid Rodriguez $92,260, his attorney Rice $30,000 and workers' compensation
attorney Wayne McCourt $8,000. Theuer said the Rodriguez settlement has angered and
disgusted other officers.
"The unfortunate thing is there was probably a shred of truth to some of the things he said, but
he made so many outlandish allegations . . . It would have been interesting to make him attempt
to prove (the allegations)," the sergeant said.
Claims of sex with police revealed
More accusations of improper relations between female Explorers and Largo police
are unearthed.
By JANE MEINHARDT and AMELIA DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 13, 2000
LARGO -- In the latest disclosure of sexual allegations against Largo police, records released Wednesday
reveal that two officers were accused of having sex with a juvenile in a department youth program as far
back as the early 1990s.
The records also show that a police dispatcher who served as an adviser to the program admitted kissing a
juvenile in 1990.
Neither allegation was investigated by the Police Department's Internal Affairs Division, which was
headed by current police Chief Jerry Bloechle in 1992, records indicate. It is unclear from the records
whether the department opened a criminal investigation, given that having sex with a juvenile is in many
cases against the law.
Bloechle, investigators and officers declined to discuss the two cases disclosed Wednesday. Since last
month, the department has been investigating allegations that several male officers had inappropriate
sexual relations with female members of the department's youth Explorer post. In an effort to ensure a
thorough investigation, the department brought in an outside law firm last week to assist in the review.
The Police Department's investigation began after a former Explorer told a television news reporter that
for years the Explorer post served as a dating service for officers. With Wednesday's release of Explorer
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records, four police officers are alleged to have had sex with Explorers, and one officer and one
dispatcher admitted to inappropriate contact, such as kissing members of the group.
The Times is not identifying the police officers mentioned in the records at this time because it is unclear
whether the Explorer's allegations, made in 1992, were investigated or substantiated.
Two officers who are no longer at the department have admitted having relationships with Largo
Explorers. In 1994, Tom Faircloth resigned after an internal affairs investigation into what he said
amounted to hugs and kisses exchanged with a 16-year-old Explorer whom he later married.
Former Officer Patrick McKeever, who resigned after 10 years as a Largo officer, has said he had sexual
relations with a 17-year-old Explorer at the girl's house in 1990.
Also, Largo Officer John Ferraro, who shot himself in December 1998 as detectives prepared to arrest
him on charges that he had sex with a 16-year-old girl, said in his suicide note that he had sex with a
former Explorer.
"I'm not the only person who's had sex with a minor at the police department, or with Explorers. . . . They
really need to tighten up the rules with those Explorers," Ferraro's note said.
Last April, Bloechle told a Times reporter that
Ferraro's allegations had been investigated. He
said then that there was nothing to substantiate the
allegations in the suicide note.
The records released Wednesday may not
represent all Explorer documents. Lt. Michelle
Smith, who is supervising the investigation, said
many post records have been purged or lost over
the years as advisers and Explorers have left the
group.
In the records that were released, the female
Explorer, who was under 18 at the time, told post
officials and advisers that she had sex with an
officer whose house she had visited. She later told
post officials that she had also "slept with" another
officer. Details about where and when this may
have occurred were not in the files.
As a result of her allegations, post officials -including advisers who were police dispatchers -prohibited the girl from riding with one of the
officers whom she said she had had sex with. She
also was prohibited from riding with another
officer that she had frequently been on patrol with,
post records show.
Internal Affairs records show that no police
investigation was conducted into the girl's
allegations. It was unclear whether a criminal
investigation was conducted.
Nor was there an official police investigation into
allegations involving dispatcher Michael Larivee
in April 1990. Larivee was dismissed as a post
adviser after he admitted kissing an Explorer.
Larivee declined to comment Wednesday.
A post investigation showed he kissed the girl on
two occasions a few weeks apart, according to
records. Judy Gershkowitz, now deputy chief, was
the chief Explorer adviser at the time. It was
Gershkowitz who signed the post disciplinary
complaint.
Allegations date back to Joseph Gallenstein's
tenure as police chief. He resigned in June 1992.
Tom Knapp became acting chief after
Gallenstein's resignation until Richard Kistner was
named chief in January 1993. Bloechle became
chief in July 1997.
Gallenstein said Wednesday that he spoke to
Bloechle earlier this week. "He asked me if I
knew about any of this stuff going on,"
Gallenstein said. "I said no. He said he didn't
know either."
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
2 women complain against Sparks police sargeant
By Anjeanette Damon
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
April 13th, 2000
A 17-year-old girl who has accused Sparks police Sgt. Melvin Gentry of stalking her for two weeks
tearfully told investigators she slept with a hammer on her night stand, fearing he would break into her
small apartment at night.
The teen, who lived alone in an apartment near her job at a Sparks restaurant, said Gentry came to her
apartment several times both on- and off-duty, once as late at 10 p.m.
Gentry, 40, will be arraigned April 24 in Sparks Municipal Court on that charge as well as a second
stalking charge from a 23-year-old woman. Gentry was released Tuesday from the Washoe County Jail on
$5,000 bail.
“We will vigorously defend this case,” said Gentry’s lawyer, Mark Kilburn. “Mr. Gentry has indicated he
is absolutely not guilty of these charges. He will plead not guilty.”
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the 17-year-old girl met Gentry while a waitress at the Black
Bear Restaurant in Sparks. She said Gentry would eat dinner at the restaurant nightly, always asking to be
seated in her section.
The girl told police Gentry would make comments that made her uncomfortable, such as “I’ll bet you’re
very pretty when you let your hair down” and “If I was twenty years younger, you’d get it.”
When she returned home from work on Feb. 14, she said Gentry was in uniform and in his patrol car in
the parking lot near her apartment. She told police Gentry asked to come up to her apartment so he could
see her with her hair down.
A week later, Gentry knocked on her door about 10 p.m. and was in plain clothes. The girl’s boyfriend
was with her in the apartment and talked with Gentry until he left. The girl’s boyfriend left her a hammer
for protection before leaving that night, the affidavit said.
Gentry approached the girl two more times before she reported him to Sparks police, the affidavit said.
“He’s a big guy,” the girl told investigators when they asked why she was afraid of him. “He’s a police
officer so he had some authority and he knows where I live. He’s come to my door twice, seeing that my
place is a very small place and it would be easy for him to come in if he wanted to.”
On April 9, one of the teen’s co-workers filed a report, saying Gentry asked her questions about her
marital status and dating habits while she served him at the Black Bear.
She told police Gentry, in uniform, knocked on her apartment door in late February saying he had some
questions about a suspicious vehicle. He came to her apartment again on March 2, in plainclothes and
asked her personal questions.
He returned to her apartment several times over the next month, but she refused to open the door when he
knocked, the woman told police. On April 8, Gentry returned to her apartment at least six times at 15minute intervals.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
In an interview with investigators, Gentry said he visited the woman three times to enlist her help as a
character witness in his pending case involving her co-worker. He denied repeatedly knocking on her door
April 8.
Gentry has been on paid administrative leave since the 17-year-old made her allegations March 5. Police
Chief John Dotson said he does not know if Gentry will remain on leave until the charges are resolved.
“Ultimately there will be an internal investigation, in fact, we’ve opened one already,” Dotson said. “But
we won’t resolve that while this case is pending.”
Dotson said the department has no written policy on how to deal with officers charged with a crime, but
that each case is evaluated on its own merits. Gentry sued the department in 1998, contending he was
passed up for promotion in 1997 because he is black.
The suit goes to trial for the second time in October, after the first one ended with a hung jury in January.
“We expect Mr. Gentry to return to duty and be completely vindicated by the time of the trial,” said his
civil rights lawyer Terri Keyser-Cooper.
First arrest warrants issued in L.A. police corruption scandal
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (April 24, 2000 3:59 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - In the first criminal charges
to arise from the Los Angeles Police Department's corruption scandal, arrest warrants were
issued for three police officers on Monday.
Sgts. Edward Ortiz and Brian Liddy and Officer Paul Harper were expected to surrender at a
police station, said Geoffrey Garfield, a spokesman for the Police Protective League.
The Los Angeles Times, citing confidential sources, reported that the three were being charged
for allegedly framing a suspected gang member on a weapons charge in April 1996. They must
be charged by Wednesday, when the statute of limitations expires.
At least 30 LAPD officers, including three sergeants, have been relieved of duty in the wake of
the corruption scandal. It began last year when an officer convicted of stealing cocaine from an
evidence locker told investigators of cases in which officers with the Rampart station near
downtown framed, beat and shot innocent people.
Police Chief Bernard Parks has criticized prosecutors for moving too slowly to charge corrupt
officers named in the investigation. District Attorney Gil Garcetti has said he had to move slowly
to build stronger cases against the officers.
Ortiz, 43, Liddy, 38, and Harper, 33, will likely face charges of perjury, falsifying an arrest report
and conspiracy for allegedly planting a gun on a man during a raid at a party thrown by the 18th
Street gang, the Times reported.
The suspect, Allan Lobos, told investigators that "Liddy told him that he was going to jail for the
gun and rubbed it up against Lobos' fingers" to mark them with fingerprints, court documents
said.
Lobos pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a gun and was sentenced to a year in jail
and three years probation. His conviction was among the 67 overturned since the investigation
began, but he remains in prison on a murder conviction.
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE
(A Global Experience) Volume 3 issue 5 - dated May, 2000
Attempts to reach the three officers by telephone Monday were unsuccessful.
Chinese police cut off critic's tongue, human-rights group says
The Associated Press
BEIJING (April 24, 2000 12:12 p.m. EDT
http://www.nandotimes.com) - A human-rights group
said Monday that Chinese police cut out the
tongue of a villager who was detained and
beaten for writing anti-corruption slogans on a
government building.
Publicly, the communist government in Beijing
condemns torture. But it has been unable to
stamp out abuses by law enforcement officers
in China's vast countryside, where reports of
torture and mistreatment by officials are not
uncommon.
Li Lusong, from Lan county in northern
Shanxi province, has been unable to speak or
eat since the attack in police detention in
December, the Hong Kong-based Information
Center for Human Rights and Democracy
said.
Li, 20, had tried to complain to the ruling
Communist Party's county office about a
dangerously decrepit school building in his
village but was chased away, the Information
Center said.
Police beat Li unconscious and woke him up
with cold water, the group said. When Li
cursed police for beating him, one
interrogator tried prying open Li's mouth with
a pair of pliers so he could cut off his tongue,
it said.
Li resisted, so police stunned Li with an
electric baton and cut off half his tongue with
a knife, the group said.
In anger, Li scrawled "Get rid of corruption,
get rid of corrupt officials" on the party office
building on Dec. 10 and was detained two
days later, it said.
Quoting unidentified sources in Li's village,
the Information Center said Li has only been
able to drink milk since the attack. No officers
have been punished, it added.
ONE LINERS:
How do you Know when you're REALLY ugly?
Dogs hump your leg with their eyes closed.
What is the quickest way to clear out a men's
restroom? Say, "Nice dick."
How do you know you're leading a sad life?
When a nymphomaniac tells you, "Let's just be
friends."
Why did God create alcohol?
Why don't bunnies make noise when they make
love? Because they have cotton balls.
What three two-letter words denote "small"?
"Is it in?"
What did the blonde say when she found out she
was pregnant? "Are you sure it's mine?"
So ugly people have a chance to have sex too.