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| NEWS > 11 December 2007 |
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UK: BNP accused faces miscondu
A MERSEYSIDE Police officer could face a misconduct panel after it was alleged he was a member of the BNP.
The force has completed its investigation into Wirral-based Steve Bettley, who once worked as the chief constable’s chauffeur, after a membership list for the extreme right-wing party appeared on the internet last month.
He was immediately suspended and it has now been recommended the officer faces a misconduct panel.
A police spokesman said last night: “The matter is now in the hands of Merseyside Police’s solicitors for further consideration. The constable rem... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Chicago Tribune - United State
11 December 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Chicago Police Department, IL
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Chicago cop found guilty of as
A Chicago police sergeant was convicted Monday of raping a woman while on duty after a judge found his testimony that the sex was consensual was "nothing short of perjury."
Cook County Circuit Judge Joseph Claps also said he did not believe the testimony of Calumet Area Detectives Constance Besteda and Ernest Bell, who investigated the woman's allegations against Sgt. John Herman.
Besteda testified that the 42-year-old accuser offered to recant her story for a $5,000 bribe but said she did not pursue bribery charges against the woman.
Saying that he found it "unbelievable" that Besteda would not arrest the woman, Claps said he is forwarding the testimony to the Chicago police superintendent for a review of the investigation and the officers involved.
"Their testimony is not believable or even remotely reasonable," Claps said.
Following a bench trial last week, the judge on Monday convicted Herman, a 20-year veteran assigned to the Gresham Police District, of aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and official misconduct for the 2004 rape in the woman's South Side apartment. He ordered Herman taken into immediate custody.
Prosecutors said Herman picked up the woman on the street after demanding to see identification. Herman drove her to her home on the pretense of retrieving an ID, and then assaulted her, prosecutors said.
Herman faces a minimum sentence of 24 years in prison, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 3.
After reporting the assault, the woman said she was harassed by officers in the Gresham District for being a crack-cocaine addict. She also accused Besteda of offering her $5,000 to drop the case.
Herman testified that the sex was consensual. He said that he and the woman were "sex friends" who had one other sexual encounter before the rape allegations.
Herman said he became friendly with the woman when she would cut through the station's parking lot on her way to the store, but he claimed that he did not know that she was a crack addict.
Claps said he considered the victim's drug use in reaching his verdict.
"[The victim's] testimony is believable despite minor inconsistencies," he said.
After the verdict, Assistant State's Atty Kimellen Chamberlain said the woman has told the same story throughout the three-year investigation. Chamberlain ridiculed the testimony of both Hermanand Besteda, who testified that she gave the woman a high-five after she asked for the bribe.
"It made absolutely no sense: Their eyes met across the 6th [Gresham] District parking lot," Chamberlain said. "It doesn't matter if you are addicted to crack. You don't get to be raped by a Chicago police officer."
In her testimony, Besteda said the woman was tired of being at the police station and asked to be paid to leave. She denied offering the woman a bribe and said she and the woman chuckled at the notion of the bribe.
Besteda also said that Herman may have supervised her in the past and that she also knows his wife.
Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said that the department will look into accusations against Besteda arising from her testimony.
Bell, who has since retired from the department, testified that there was never an offer of a bribe.
"While the Chicago Police Department took the initiative to present charges of misconduct to the state's attorney's office, we have stated in the past that there is no tolerance for misconduct on any level and any allegations regarding Detective Besteda's actions will be investigated by internal affairs," Bond said an e-mailed statement.
John Gorman, spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office, said the office is reviewing the officers' testimony but does not comment on active investigations.
Herman's attorney, Peter Hickey, said his client was "shocked" at the verdict and plans to appeal.
Hickey said he found it "hard to accept" that the judge thought the detectives had lied on the witness stand.
"[Herman] is probably more upset about the fact that the judge decided not to believe Detective Besteda but [the accuser ] instead," Hickey said. "Detective Besteda was telling the truth."
Hickey said he was told that Herman would not be put into the general population at Cook County Jail because of safety concerns.
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