Category: Law N Disorder

Posted onDick Jones

It’s Been 5 Months Since a Man was Murdered by the Fullerton Police. Who’s Been Fired?

by 137 Comments on It’s Been 5 Months Since a Man was Murdered by the Fullerton Police. Who’s Been Fired?

 

Ramos and Cicinelli, the two men charged in the murder of Kelly Thomas, got three months of paid vacation. Now they’re on unpaid leave, but they still have not been fired.

What about officers Hampton, Wolfe, Blatney and Craig who were accomplices in the brutal beating? Nope. Still employed. Still getting paid.

And the FPD management who allowed the six officers to collude on their reports? We still don’t know who’s responsible for that mess. But nobody was fired.

Chief Sellers, who went on vacation, returned only to hide under his desk, and then foraged up a doctors note to dodge his responsiblies while Fullerton suffered? Not fired.

How about Jones and Meyer, the city attorneys who have worked so hard to conceal the department’s criminal activity from the public eye for all those years? They’re still here. And they’re probably making more than ever.

And the City Manager, who’s supposed to be responsible for all city employees and their actions? Not fired. But he did try to give himself a raise.

And finally, the three councilmembers who’ve been overseeing this mess for 56 collective years, who did nothing but insult the murder victim and defend the police department responsible for his death? They’re still here, and they’re still deflecting responsibility for the actions of the city they’re supposed to be running.

Five months have passed and not a single soul has lost their job for their involvement in a murder under color of authority.  That’s a pretty stark contrast to those of us in the real world, where people are often fired for showing up to work late or taking a nap on the clock.

But not in Fullerton. This year we have witnessed a demonstration of a power structure so perverse that it can insulate itself from the most heinous of crimes with almost no remorse or repercussions.

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Posted onDead heads

FPD Alerts Public On Sex Offender

by 277 Comments on FPD Alerts Public On Sex Offender

Well, here’s the information provided by Andrew Goodrich & Co. about some dude who needs to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Antoine Dennell

Everybody’s supposed to be scared. At least this loser did his time.

Too bad Pat KcKinley’s boys never bothered to alert the women of Fullerton that a serial molester of women, Albert Rincon was prowling the streets of Fullerton  preying upon precisely those women McKinley would characterize as not credible. See, Rincon was one of Fullerton’e Finest. Really.

And he was actually put back on the streets after a little sensitivity training.

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Posted on"Dick" Ackerman

City Council Meeting Tonight!

by 269 Comments on City Council Meeting Tonight!

Yessiree, Friends, tonight is the night when our “esteemed” City Council chooses our mayor for 2012.

It’s also the night when the Council will be entertained (not enlightened we may reasonably assume) by a reading from Marisa Gerber’s great exposition of Fullerton’s bad cops, bad cops in the OC Weekly. After hearing the extensive (and not even exhaustive) report on the Culture of Corruption created and abetted by Jones, Bankhead and McKinley, even the most die hard loyalist to the Ancient Regime must cringe and slink off in shame. But not the Three Dyspeptic Dinosaurs.

But I digress.

It used to be that if you were on the Fullerton City Council and you were a Democrat; and if the following year happened to be an election year, your chances of being selected mayor by your colleagues were pretty damn slim. This is because the old guard country club Republicans like Dick Ackerman and Ed Royce would start pulling the strings of whichever featherheaded RINO nincompoops they had put on the council and the “rotation” that everybody talked about was out the window.

This year is a lot different. With the Recall of Jones, Bankhead, and McPension signature gathering phase coming to a successful completion, Ackerman & Co. know that this year their creaky boys cannot afford to offend anymore constituents, especially what’s left of the antique liberal cadre in Fullerton. So he must now do what for him is unthinkable, under ordinary circumstances, that goes diametrically against every fiber in his corrupt being, and that is order the Triumverate of Tone Deafness to support Sharon Quirk-Silva for mayor.

It will hurt, but it must be done. But will it help in the Recall campaign? Presumably there are some libs old, and young, who, while they won’t support the Recall publicly will certainly vote for accountability when it matters.

Stay tuned for the fun.

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Posted on"Dick" Ackerman

For The Next Council Meeting – A Public Reading

by 63 Comments on For The Next Council Meeting – A Public Reading
The City's eyes were badly "bloused." Again.

I strongly urge each and every Friend of Freedom in Fullerton to take with them a copy the most recent OC Weekly to the next Fullerton City Council meeting, on December 6th.

Why? To read!

A speaker should begin reading aloud and into the record Marisa Gerber’s excellent exposition of the Fullerton Police Department’s Culture of Corruption. Pick up where your predecessor left off when his three minutes are up and the mike gets shut off. Keep going until you have made the Three Blind Brontosauruses and their Rotarian claque listen to the whole damned article.

At the end I would challenge any sane, honest person not to acknowledge the undeniable evidence that Pat McKinley’s police force degenerated into a sinkhole of corruption; and that that Bankhead and Jones are guilty of letting it happen as they abandoned their sworn responsibility to the citizens of Fullerton.

It’s very clear. They sold us out to their pals in the police union. Let’s be sure to remind them why they are being recalled!

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Posted onDick Jones

The Man Who Scuffled With Police; The Man Who Scuffled With The truth

by 247 Comments on The Man Who Scuffled With Police; The Man Who Scuffled With The truth

Let us flash back to the early stages of the FPD’s attempted coverup of the Kelly Thomas killing. Here’s the FPD’s version of the story, as passed along from Sergeant Andrew Goodrich via the uncurious OC Register.

This story came out the day after the beating, even before Kelly was taken off life support, and the dissimulation was already well underway. Months would pass before the DA’s revelation that an innocent man had been beaten to death under color of authority.

And speaking of color I have helpfully highlighted in bold red statements and assertions from Andrew Goodrich that were flat-out lies.

Man who scuffled with police still in critical condition

The 37-year-old man, believed to be a transient, is suspected of auto burglary, police said.

By SEAN EMERY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

FULLERTON – A man suspected of trying to burglarized cars remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after police say he fought with officers trying to search him.

Authorities say Kelly Thomas, 37, injured several officers who tried to detain him Tuesday night, while family members allege that police used excessive force in taking him into custody.

About 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, officers went to investigate reports of a man trying to burglarize cars in a parking lot next to the bus deport in the 100 block of South Pomona Avenue, Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said.

Officers spotted a shirtless man with a beard, shorts and a backpack who they suspected of being involved in the attempted burglaries, Goodrich said.

The man began to fight officers as they tried to search him, Goodrich said.

“We don’t know why he was so combative and resistant to the officers, but it took upwards of five to six officers to subdue him,” Goodrich said.

During the scuffle, Thomas suffered head and neck injuries and was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, Goodrich said.

Two officers suffered moderate injuries during the fight, including broken bones. They were treated at a hospital and released.

It was unclear if the officers used non-lethal weapons to subdue Thomas.

“According to his family, he has a history of mental illness,” Goodrich said, adding that he is a transient in Fullerton and surrounding cities.

Ron Thomas, Kelly Thomas’ father, said his son was homeless by choice and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

“When (police) rolled up, he was by a vehicle. They wanted to search his backpack, and he turned on them,” Ron Thomas said.

Thomas contended that his son’s injuries were the result of an “extreme use of force” by officers, who he believes “slammed” his son’s head and face into the ground. Based on his son’s injuries, Ron Thomas believes officers “took his legs out from under him while pushing him downward.”

“They have all the training, they have the weapons, they have the Tasers, and he is 160 pounds, barehanded,” Thomas said.

Thomas is on life-support, his father said, with doctors telling the family that he likely suffered brain damage.

“I can understand why a father would say that, but we are going to do a thorough investigation,” Goodrich said of Thomas’ comments. “Some of our officers also went to the hospital due to injuries they suffered. Sometimes when we take people into custody who don’t want to go into custody, we have to use force. It is never the preferred way of doing things.”

Goodrich said police are conducting a criminal investigation into the attempted burglaries, as well as an internal investigation into the officers’ actions.

“It’s always unfortunate when someone is injured, and we do what we can to minimize injuries whenever possible,” Goodrich said.

So did Goodrich ever suffer any consequences for all this unadulterated bullshit? Of course not, for this is Fullerton government where there is no accountability for malfeasance, and nobody in officialdom finds it objectionable that the official City spokesman has not even a passing familiarity with the truth. Of course it could be argued that Goodrich was just a useful idiot in the service of a cover up of an event about which he was largely misinformed by his fellow union members or their (and his superiors)

Either way the whole thing stinks. And any way you slice it looks like a cover up.

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Posted onDead heads

Jones & Mayer. More Failure.

by 62 Comments on Jones & Mayer. More Failure.

Now that the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer’s Association has weighed in on the issue of Fullerton’s 10% water tax with the suggestion of potential legal action, it seems an opportune time to consider the quality of legal support the City receives from its high-priced lawyers, Jones & Mayer.

Specifically, how can anybody explain the fact that the City Attorney Richard Jones has overlooked the obvious fact that the City of Fullerton’s in-lieu franchise fee of 10% was nothing but an illegal utility tax that was never substantiated by any objective study as required by Prop 218; and that it amounts to paying costs for alleged services that far exceed the actual cost of any services rendered to the water users, in violation of the State Constitution. Every year since he was hired in the early 90’s Attorney Jones’ bosses on the City Council approved water rates that automatically passed along this tax to the rate payers. Of course discussion of the embarrassing 10% add-on was avoided like the plague and was quickly dismissed when anybody brought it up.

Well, Friends, the answer is pretty simple: Attorney Jones wasn’t representing the interests of the people of Fullerton, he was representing the interests of the City staff and city councils who depended on that annual $2.5 million rip-off to close their General Fund budget gaps. That’s right, the General Fund that goes to pay the salaries of City employees;  that goes to pay the Council’s stipends, insurance, and car allowances; that goes to pay the for the Council’s junkets to fancy hotels to attend League of Cities meetings; and that goes to pay pensions – including those gaudy six-figure pension bonanzas of Councilmembers Don Bankhead and Pat McKinley.

The reason for employing an attorney is to get sound legal advice, not to have someone tell you what you want to hear; or, even worse, not tell you what he thinks you don’t want to hear. But such is evidently not the case in Fullerton.

For Jones & Mayer placing the interests of the staff and defending the indefensible is nothing new. And the price tag for this string failures has mounted over the years. Let’s take a moment and reflect upon some of these issues. Hmm. So many to choose from. Here’s a sampling:

Good grief, this is pretty embarrassing. It’s clear that the City Attorney is more interested in harassing the citizens of Fullerton than in sticking up for their rights. And this seems like a pretty good barometer to assess the attitude of the council majority – Bankhead, Jones, and McKinley.

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Posted on"Dick" Ackerman

We Get Mail

by 274 Comments on We Get Mail

Here’s a little message we got at FFFF Central Ops today. This seems to be the talking point of law enforcement trolls in the Kelly Thomas matter. Blame dear old Dad for neglect, and now for wanting to cash in. This writer actually tries (without success) to redeem his/her ignorance and appalling spelling and grammar by admitting that the cops who murdered Kelly should be punished (well Hell, that’s mighty big of ya).

Name:
Email:
Privacy: You may publish this, but protect my identity

Subject: mr thomas’s alterior motives

so kelly thomas’s father threw kelly out of the house, put him on the street, and put him in an arm bar to force him onto a psych unit. hiis son was starving and homeless for years, but now all of a sudden mr thomas cares about him? he just wants millions out of this..yes the officiers should go to jail but mr thomas put his son out there in those volatiile condiitons simply because hiis son did not want to take his meds…if mr thomas cared about kelly’s wellbeing so much he would not put him on the streets you would think that that would be more dangerous for someone’s health than being off a drug

Of course we have been all over this ground before and if you believe that Kelly’s parents had the legal or practical ability to restrain their boy and force him to take medication you are a damned fool. In any case this simple, inescapable, unavoidable truth remains: if Ramos, Wolfe, Cicinelli, Blatney and Klein had not killed him, Kelly Thomas would be be alive today.

As far as a big payout is concerned, I’m wondering if advertising Ron Thomas’ greed is going to be the tact taken by the Three Recalled RINOs and their misbegotten backers, in an attempt to deflect criticism for their own dismal failures, before and after the murder.

So far the Three Tree Trunks have adamantly refused to even admit that there is a Culture of Corruption that runs through the police department – a culture created by McKinley’s incompetence (or worse) and nurtured by Jones and Bankhead’s sleepy and grumpy indifference. So why not cast about for a somebody else to blame?

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Posted onAbout Us

SHAME. SHAME. SHAME.

by 270 Comments on SHAME. SHAME. SHAME.
The City's eyes were badly "bloused." Again.

The OC Weekly’s Marisa Gerber has just written a detailed and painful catalog of offenses perpetrated by the Fullerton Police Department over a period of many years. It’s on the cover of this week’s edition.

No reasonable person can read this litany of arrogant terror and error, without concluding that the FPD sank deep into a Culture of Corruption under former chief and current councilmember, Pat McKinley; and that McKinley’s diseased poultry is still coming home to roost – two and a half years after his retirement.

But, as they say, where there is a will, there is way, and the anti-recall clowns will never acknowledge any of this scandal. They have far too much at stake – financially and emotionally.

Well, they can bury their heads in the sands, but the denial isn’t going to help. Their “esteemed” councilmen have dozed away, and looked the other way when all this was happening. It seems they thought their job was to attend ribbon cuttings, enjoy free drinks at Chamber of Commerce mixers, and give away millions of dollars worth of property to their campaign contributors.

And having everyone kiss your pale, withered butt means never having to say you’re sorry.

For Bankhead, Jones, and now McKinley, there has never been a thin dime’s worth of accountability.

Until now. And that’s the Recall!

 

 

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

Suicide in Fullerton Jail Should Raise Questions

by 232 Comments on Suicide in Fullerton Jail Should Raise Questions
He checked in, but he din't check out.

Last spring Dean Francis Gochenour, 52, was arrested in Fullerton for suspicion of drunk driving and was taken to the Fullerton jail. He never left. Not alive, anyway.

In the early morning hours of April 15, 2011  Gochenour was discovered in a holding cell, dead. Death by apparent “hanging” was passed out by the cops to the media, although what he was hanging from and by what means wasn’t elaborated. Here’s the brief news clip.

Almost immediately, however, stories began to emanate from the basement of the police HQ to the effect that Gochenour had been demeaned and taunted by the arresting officer; that he had been admonished by the cop to kill himself; that the cop’s behavior had been witnessed and or overheard by a jail employee and reported to his bosses; that a superior had confronted the officer in question, whereupon the latter tried to smash his DAR to destroy evidence; but that said evidence was retrieved.

He was not like you Rotarians. I mean he was not a credible witness. And now he's dead. I guess we could do another one of those "in-house" investigations we excel at.

It would not be entirely out of character for a Fullerton cop to urge an arrestee to commit suicide, given what we’ve seen of the thuggish behavior of our police lately. Is that what happened? Exactly how Gochenour died is not clear. In April it seemed a lot less suspicious than it does now, especially since FPD spokesmen have been shown to play fast and loose with the truth.

All of which begs the questions: who was the cop involved and what is his current employment status? In Fullerton, such things are shrouded behind a nearly impenetrable curtain.

We will try to pull it back and find out.

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

Cicinelli LAPD Pension Safe; Too Bad Fullerton Wasn’t Safe From Cicinelli

by 118 Comments on Cicinelli LAPD Pension Safe; Too Bad Fullerton Wasn’t Safe From Cicinelli

The guy who pounded Kelly Thomas’ face to bloody jelly (right after he got done torturing him with multiple Taser shocks) won’t lose his disability pension from the LAPD. In fact, the board that oversees such things won’t even review the case. Marisa Gerber relates the story in the OC Weekly, here.

What case is that? It stems from Cicinelli’s getting all shot to hell a few weeks out of the chute back in the mid-90’s. Among other injuries, one of his eyes was shot out. At the time, the pension board granted him a lifetime disability, but of course that decision didn’t contemplate Cicinelli going back to work as a one-eyed cop, which he did in Fullerton a little while later. And apparently nobody from Fullerton bothered to inform anybody in LA of Cicinelli’s new employment status.

So Cicinelli was making $40K a year from LAPD and made about $90K from Fullerton on that hot, sultry night of July 5th, 2011. Equitable? You decide.

Speaking of getting two pensions, I now roll around to the main point of this post. Which is Pat McKinley, the double barreled pension grabber who, as chief of the Fullerton Police Department hired Cicinelli and deployed the one-eyed cop on the streets of Fullerton. It was a favor for an old LAPD crony. In so doing, he placed Cicinelli, the public, and the taxpaying citizenry at dire risk.

He also hired the rest of the FPD gallery of rogues that has made the news lately: the druggies, pickpockets, perjurers, thugs, sex offenders and killers.

McKinley still insists he is proud of all these people (except for “the two!”) and has nothing to apologize for.

See, in Pat’s weird world mistakes are never admitted, responsibility for failure is never taken, and of course, accountability is utterly absent. McKinley won’t acknowledge what everybody else already knows: during his tenure as the head of the Fullerton Police Department his leadership failure created an obvious Culture of Corruption that culminated with the death of Kelly Thomas and the subsequent attempt to hush it up.

Well, I guess since McKinley won’t man up to his own failures, we’re going to have to do it for him

 

 

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