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| NEWS > 13 April 2008 |
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Digging up deadly secrets
AUL Dale lives in Wangaratta these days, not too far from the state's border. A long way from the big smoke. But as a policeman in Melbourne, until recently, he had a secret life. His police colleagues thought of him as a good cop, a good investigator. Quiet, solid, thorough, a useful footballer in Victoria Police's midweek league.
Most colleagues never knew of his secrets: his hidden links with criminals, including gangland killer Carl Williams. He kept that kind of thing very, very quiet.
When corruption investigators and then homicide police began asking questions abou... Read more
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Plain Dealer
13 April 2008
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Lorain councilman demanding an
Lorain- The Lorain police chief and his commanding officers need to straighten out the department or the city needs to bring in new leadership to restore honor, a councilman says.
Councilman Dan Given has ordered Chief Cel Rivera to appear before City Council on April 28 to explain publicly why so many officers have been in trouble lately. Rivera needs to explain how he plans to straighten out the department before crime spikes as warm weather approaches, Given said.
Citizens have lost confidence and trust in the force, he said.
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"There is some kind of new claim against the department every week," Given said. "The public is not behind them."
Since October 2006, at least 10 officers have been punished for inappropriate behavior, including stalking women, threatening people and dumping guns in a sewer.
Two officers have been indicted in sex crimes. And the police union president spent a week in jail for violating a civil protection order.
Rivera said that he had no problem talking with the council in public about safety and crime but that discussions about discipline should he held in executive session. He declined to comment further.
Mayor Tony Krasienko, who took office in January, said some of the department's problems should go away with a new ethics and standards policy that Rivera recently implemented.
Krasienko said he will support Rivera when the chief punishes officers.
But the mayor would not say whether he is satisfied with Rivera's performance.
Krasienko said Safety Director Phil Dore is evaluating the department and may recommend changes.
The department, with 105 officers, is the fifth-largest in Northeast Ohio.
The Plain Dealer reported a year and a half ago about widespread misconduct in the department. Records showed about a third of the department's officers and dispatchers had been disciplined or sued for alleged inappropriate conduct since 2000.
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Lorain paid more than $500,000 in legal fees and settlements for claims against officers during that time, according to the city auditor's records.
Court and police records showed at least 72 instances between 2000 and 2006 of officers or dispatchers fighting, drinking to excess, losing their guns, insulting residents, harassing women or violating other policies.
The incidents included a SWAT team member who left his weapons in his garage. That officer's friend found his assault rifle while getting beer and fired 18 rounds through a garage door and into a neighbor's home.
In another case, a sergeant drinking in an Amherst club left without his jacket, which contained a loaded pistol. A bartender found the gun.
Given is annoyed that two officers are on paid leave and collect full salaries while awaiting criminal trials for sexual misconduct. Patrolmen Jesus Sanchez and Stanley Marrero could spend years behind bars if convicted.
"The public is paying them to sit home," Given said. "The taxpayers need to get something out of them."
Sanchez, a 28-year veteran, was indicted in March 2007, accused of stalking and groping a woman. In a deposition, Sanchez claimed that having sex on duty was a perk of the badge in Lorain. His case sparked the Plain Dealer investigation into the department's discipline practices.
Marrero, a 17-year officer, was accused of having sex with two sisters while on duty last September and allowing two other women to beat each other while fighting over him. His charges include menacing by stalking and public indecency. Two women each filed $15 million lawsuits in federal court against him last week.
Dore, the safety director, said he is satisfied with Rivera's leadership. The department is not troubled, and only a handful of officers cause the problems, he said.
"Chief Rivera is dedicated at what he does," Dore said. "He is doing a good job."
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