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| NEWS > 20 August 2009 |
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Officers Reassigned After Accu
The Police Department on Monday reassigned to desk duty four officers who are under scrutiny over charges by a man who said he was sodomized with a piece of police equipment during a scuffle in a Brooklyn subway station, a police spokesman said.
The decision to place the officers on modified assignment requires them to surrender their guns and shields, and suggests a change in the position of the department, which had insisted that it saw no evidence of misconduct by the officers.
Officers are often placed on modified duty in anticipation of possible disciplinary action.
... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Norwalk Advocate
20 August 2009
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Stamford Police Department, CT
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Stamford police did not invest
Stamford police have never investigated a man's 2008 allegation that an officer improperly transported him across the city line and confiscated his identification, according to a city representative who filed two written complaints on the alleged victim's behalf.
City Rep. Philip Berns, D-16, an immigration lawyer and advocate for the Hispanic community, contends the case is part of a pattern of failure on the part of the police department to adequately investigate complaints alleging police misconduct. Police argue that Berns is biased against the department, and that it is difficult to investigate allegations when complainants do not cooperate.
In a written statement he provided to Berns in April 2008, a day laborer, Juan Turcios Ruiz, alleged a police officer grabbed him from the sidewalk on Grove Street, pushed him into a patrol car, and drove him to the Norwalk border. According to the statement, the officer cursed at Turcios, dropped him off in Norwalk, confiscated his identification card from the Guatemalan consulate, and told him he had to walk back home.
The next day, the same officer interupted as Turcios requested legal advice from Berns near the day-laborer pickup site underneath I-95 on Lafayette Street, according to the statement. The officer told Berns to move his car and and when he did, ticketed him for not having a front license plate and failing to wear his seat belt. Berns said that the officer tried to grab his cell phone when the attorney used it to take a photo of the scene.
Berns hand-delivered a written complaint to the police station, he said. Two days later, when Berns learned the police chief had told a reporter he had not received a complaint, he hand-delivered it a second time.
Internal Affairs head Lt. Frank Cronin acknowledged receiving a letter from Berns, but said the department did not investigate the incident because Turcios and other witnesses never came in to make a complaint themselves. Cronin said Berns' letter dealt with Turcios and several other day laborers.
"Phil Berns mentions that these guys were all mistreated by police but a complaint never came forward," Cronin said.
Berns said he received a call from a high-ranking police official shortly after the incident occurred. The police official, whom Berns declined to identify, asked him what he wanted to resolve the complaint. Berns said he told the official he wanted police to stop mistreating day laborers.
According to Berns, Turcios said police called him after the complaint was filed a second time and arranged to meet with him at a coffee shop without identifying themselves as police. Turcios thought the call was a job offer, Berns said. When he arrived, he found four officers waiting for him. The police asked Turcios what he wanted, and he told them he didn't want to be harassed any more, according to Berns. When Turcios asked about retrieving his consular ID, the police radioed the officer who Turcios alleged had picked him up. Shortly afterward, the officer arrived at the coffee shop. The officer said he couldn't find the ID, Berns said. Turcios told the officers he felt he had been abused and they told him he would have to take the matter up with a lawyer, Berns said.
Turcios could not be reached for comment.
An official at the Guatemalan Consultate in New York said it could not release information on whether Turcios had recently applied for new indentification.
Police spokesman Lt. Sean Cooney said he is unaware of any police meetings with Turcios, but said it would not be unusual for officers investigating a complaint to meet with someone outside the police department. Cooney said if the meeting did take place, it "seems to prove the point" that Turcios was an uncooperative complainant.
"I have lost faith that complaints to the police will be dealt with seriously," Berns said. "I've gotten to the point where I don't even bother sending a complaint to the department."
Cooney questioned whether the allegations can be taken at face value, given that Berns is an immigrant advocate who often jumps quickly to the defense of day laborers.
"Phil Berns is a well-known advocate for the day laborers. He is biased to their point of view," Cooney said. "He has frequently made unfounded allegations toward police regarding day laborers."
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