|
|
|
| NEWS > 04 March 2008 |
Other related articles:
FBI arrests St. Petersburg police detective in public corruption case
The FBI arrested a St. Petersburg homicide detective Wednesday on public corruption charges, accusing him of using his position to extort cash, shoes and a flat-screen television from a confidential informant.
Detective Anthony Foster demanded the gifts in exchange for helping the informant get lighter sentences on theft and drug charges, according to a criminal complaint. Foster, a 13-year department veteran and hostage negotiator, is charged with wire fraud and interference with commerce by threats. If convicted, he could face 20 years for each charge.
Foster, 39, was arres... Read more
|
 Article sourced from
|
|
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Pi
04 March 2008
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
|
|
Elizabeth Township officers su
Alleging harassing and hostile behavior by former Pittsburgh police Chief Robert W. McNeilly, more than half of his Elizabeth Township squad has quit or taken him to court, according to a lawsuit filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Officers Michael Beckinger, Adam Blake, David Kerestes, Paul Saxon and Justin Wardman filed the suit Saturday against McNeilly, who took over the force in 2006. Wardman recently resigned.
The officers claim McNeilly, his aide William K. Black and seven township commissioners conspired to punish them for blowing the whistle on a traffic ticket-fixing scheme and participating in investigations by the state Ethics Commission and Pennsylvania Army National Guard into alleged wrongdoing.
Citing ongoing litigation, McNeilly on Monday said he would have no comment on the lawsuit. Township attorney Gretchen K. Love did not return messages.
The lawsuit claims Black ordered the officers early last year to write $57.50 parking tickets during snow storms, instead of the usual $5 violations. When public uproar exploded, McNeilly "threw his officers under the bus" by punishing them while he sought to coerce acting District Judge Nancy Longo to scrap the fines, the lawsuit states.
According to the filing, when Saxon responded to a notice to testify in one of the snow parking cases, McNeilly and the commissioners tried to humiliate him and the chief later suspended him.
McNeilly's actions triggered a state police investigation by Trooper Wally Borish, the lawsuit states. It says Borish "concluded that criminal charges" against McNeilly and Black "were warranted," but McNeilly punished officers he believed cooperated with the investigation.
Borish and other troopers involved in the investigation did not return messages seeking comment. No charges were filed against McNeilly or Black.
The officers allege the township overbilled their pension fund by 212 percent to create a separate retirement program for past and present commissioners, and that McNeilly tried to deny a National Guard veteran of the Iraq War a chance to take a promotion exam.
In addition to Wardman, two other officers -- Kristopher Wagstaff and former acting Chief Gino Francesconi -- have resigned since McNeilly's arrival. Of 10 officers on the force when McNeilly took over in 2006, eight either have filed suit against him or left, according to plaintiffs' attorney D. Scott Lautner of Pleasant Hills.
"These officers have grown extremely frustrated that Chief McNeilly won't let them do their jobs. As police officers, they have dangerous jobs. The place they're supposed to feel safe when they come off the streets is the police station, but that's not the case in Elizabeth Township," Lautner said.
Lautner is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages, legal fees and unspecified punitive charges on behalf of the officers.
|
| |
 EiP Comments:
|
|---|
|
| |
* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
Ethics in Policing, based in the UK, provide information and advice about the following:
Policing Research | Police News articles | Police Corruption | International Policing | Police Web Sites | Police Forum | Policing Ethics | Police Journals | Police Publications |
|
| |
|
