Shoddy Police, Shoddy Courts

Often the same last names of families are doing the same crimes year after year. Law Enforcement in Connecticut does little to prevent crime in downtown areas. Cops in Connecticut get job security by never really solving problems, especially social problems. There is a pretend Drug War. It is about collecting revenue, taxing the Drug Delivery System as a business in confiscated cash, assets, and property of middlemen. Solve the problem get your manpower reduced, budget slashed, and give up all political power.

Connecticut is a Police State. Click Here for my core argument against Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Courts. Click Here for a post on Connecticut Racist Courts. Click Here for a post on typical Connecticut Court jury rigging.

I have dealt with Lt. Fox of Connecticut State Police, Troop C, Tolland Connecticut in complaining about Connecticut State Troopers Amaral and Langlois regarding their perjury in my criminal case where I was sent to prison for using pepper spray after I was beaten during a robbery attempt on my own property saying I never tried to make a complaint against my attacker, Brian Caldwell. Sergeant Sticca also of Troop C, said I “confessed” while being held at lock up at Troop C.

I asked Major Wheeler of the Connecticut State Police to review the lock up audio and arrest Sticca for making a false statement to police. I never heard anything more about having “confessed”. Then Sgt. Fox was abusive and threatening with me when I tried to make a police complaint against officers. I had to wait at Troop C and be lead through hallways to the center of the station where officers all stared me down from around the room peering in windows to the room giving me dirty looks. Fox yelled at me and was far from impartial. The whole scenario was meant to terrorize me, not do an honest investigation into police misconduct of Connecticut State Police.

I also complained to Lt. Davoren, now Captain Davoran (I am not sure of spelling), and he told me his only job was to, “Protect the Integrity of the System” after I asked him why the victim of a crime was facing prison, not the Felon, a violent alcoholic, drug using, alleged Police Informant, that was the perpetrator of crimes.

Here is a typical story about the Stafford Springs area of Connecticut:

Judge sets high bond for Stafford man in police chase

By: Jennifer Hoyt, Journal Inquirer

12/05/2006

A Stafford man charged with leading state police on a high-speed chase that injured three troopers Saturday had his bond set at $800,000 by Judge Patricia L. Harleston in Vernon Superior Court on Monday.

The man, Daniel Perez Jr., 27, of 104 Furnace Ave., Apt. 31, is being held at the Hartford Correctional Center, according to the Correction Department's Web site.

The chase began when a state trooper saw Perez operating a stolen pickup truck in Stafford, state police said. The truck also had been connected to several criminal incidents in the area, state police said.

Perez wouldn't stop for the trooper, and a chase began.

Troopers from the Troop C barracks in Tolland followed Perez, who had one passenger, onto Interstate 84 westbound in Willington, state police said. During the chase, Perez used the truck to intentionally hit a state police cruiser, state police said.

Troopers were able to box in the vehicle near exit 67, but Perez took off as a trooper reached into the vehicle to grab him, state police said. The trooper was initially hanging out of the vehicle, but freed himself as the vehicle took off, state police said.

State police said another trooper "discharged his firearm into the tire of the pickup" in an attempt to stop it.

Troopers were able to apprehend Perez when he lost control of his vehicle as he traveled on exit 67 onto Route 31, state police said.

Perez was arrested on multiple counts of assault on a police officer, as well as charges of engaging in a pursuit, reckless operation, first-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree criminal mischief, second-degree larceny, interfering with police, and escape, according to state police and court records.

He also was charged with several motor vehicle violations, court records say.

He is scheduled to appear in court again Dec. 3.

The three troopers who were injured during the chase have all been treated and released from the hospital, state police said.

The passenger in the vehicle, Christina Whitney, 25, told the Journal Inquirer on Monday that the behavior of Perez, who is her fiance, has been affected by his drug addiction.

"He's just a loving, caring person, and I know it's the drugs that's doing this to him," she said. "I know he's a better person than this."

She declined to comment further on the incident.

Lt. Alaric J. Fox, commander of the state police barracks in Tolland, said today that Whitney has not been charged in connection with the chase, but the incident is still under investigation.

At Monday's arraignment, Bail Commissioner Mollie Wittstein said Perez has a lengthy criminal history, which includes charges of third-degree larceny, failure to appear, and criminal impersonation.

Wittstein said that in 2004 Perez was charged with reckless driving and engaging in a police pursuit.

Staff writer Mark Simpson contributed to this story.

©Journal Inquirer 2006

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State police internal affairs unit blasted; criminal charges could result from scathing report

By: Kym Soper, Journal Inquirer

12/05/2006

The office of the state's top prosecutor is reviewing more than 19 inadequately investigated internal affairs cases involving state police for possible criminal charges - including drunken driving, assault, drug use, and bribery - as the governor called for an independent commission to oversee change at the Public Safety Department after a scathing report released Monday.

The 207-page report is the upshot of a 13-month joint investigation conducted by the state attorney general's office and the New York State Police, who were called in by public safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle after the state police union raised complaints of unfair treatment in internal investigations.

The inquiry reviewed 64 cases, highlighting 19 in the report as "clear-cut illustrations of the systemic problems identified" in the evaluation.

"There are an array of serious and potentially criminal activities" detailed in the report, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.

Among the most egregious cases highlighted are:

* A state trooper who "racked" his shotgun - activating the ammunition with a loud, distinct noise - while in a crowded Bradley International Airport terminal in order to intimidate an airline manager. The trooper was verbally reprimanded but no internal affairs probe was initiated.

* A state trooper who had seven alcohol-related incidents, of which three included threats of suicide and four involved possible drunken driving. In at least two of the incidents, the trooper was found passed out and slumped over the wheel of his state-issued car with the engine running. The first time he was found in the parking lot of a strip club, and in the second incident he was found on an Interstate 84 ramp on the New York border. In each incident the trooper was either taken home to his family or to a hospital for commitment, but no arrest was made or internal investigation conducted. He is now on desk duty.

* Incomplete or inadequate investigations into allegations that a state trooper was illegally using and distributing narcotics out of a casino and cavorting with prostitutes there. After a change in leadership, the unit was directed to drop the case.

* State troopers who allegedly bribed the civilian overtime coordinator with cash and gifts of jewelry in order to receive more plum assignments. In the investigation it was found that one state trooper overcharged the state $8,000 by falsifying documents. The trooper, who has since retired, only recently returned the money, but the civilian employees have yet to be investigated.

* An "open competition" among troopers at one barracks to see who could net the most drunken-driving arrests. Out of 500 arrests, only 14 of the mandatory videotapes survived the evidentiary process.

* The sexual assault of an airport maintenance worker by a trooper who is accused of molesting and rubbing up against the worker in an inappropriate way.

The accused troopers aren't named in the report, as the investigations into the incidents will be reopened.

A recurring and disturbing theme throughout each of the cases is the clear attempt by investigating officers to discredit a complainant "in any manner possible so that the allegations against their member may be dismissed without an appropriate investigation," the report states, adding it was a "typical tactic."

In many cases, evidence that could be harmful to the trooper's case would be excluded, while information damaging to the accuser would be found in detail.

The report concludes the Internal Affairs Unit didn't deliberately issue false reports or corrupt the investigation process, as the state police union alleged - but did, due to orders from superiors, fail to document important information and exhaust all leads. In some cases, investigators also were told to ignore physical and circumstantial evidence to focus on less serious allegations.

The report names several high-ranking officials who had some involvement in directing internal affairs investigations inappropriately, including the public safety commissioner, Boyle; the head of the state police, Col. Edward J. Lynch, who announced his retirement on Friday; Lynch's chief of staff, Lt. William Podgorski; Lt. Col. Vincent McSweeney; and Capt. Michael Guillot, who supervised the internal affairs unit before being removed when the investigation commenced.

"The net results of these actions were inadequate reports that led to inaccurate conclusions rather than deliberately falsified reports," the report states. "The result of these flawed investigations was that when an employee may have been deserving of discipline or even arrest, no action, or inappropriate action, was taken."

Confusion over who or what should be investigated also led to an 84 percent decline in the number of internal affairs investigations over the years, from 288 in 1991 to 46 in 2005, the report states.

"While we would like to believe that this decline is a direct result of a decreasing number of complaints and incidents of misconduct, every indicator we found points to an increasing disinclination to formally investigate the complaints received as the real reason for the decrease in these investigations," the report states.

According to Boyle, who requested the outside investigation following allegations from the union and whistleblower complaints, the unit "unfortunately lapsed into investigating complaints in an informal manner."

The vast majority of Connecticut's 1,200 state troopers do their jobs well, but "sometimes, people made judgment calls. Sometimes, people were derelict in their duties," he said.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell called on Boyle to set up an independent commission that will oversee change at the department.

Click Here for my May 2005 letter to Connecticut State Police Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle asking me to look into former Commissioner Arthur L. Spada and others.

Click Here for my letter to Governor M. Jodi Rell

"We now know that lax and less-than-professional procedures have tainted internal affairs investigations within the Connecticut State Police," she said. "Connecticut's reputation for having the finest state police in the nation must be protected and maintained."

The report makes more than 60 recommendations, most of which include more funding. Among them are better training, higher ranks for investigators, and better facilities and equipment.

©Journal Inquirer 2006

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Click Here for story regarding Connecticut Police falsely arresting citizens for drunk driving as their own little game.