What do current, retired, fired and former officers Michael Slager (South Carolina) ; Tim Loehmann (Ohio), Darren Wilson (Missouri), Michael Rapiejko, (Arizona); Anthony Pantaleo(New York), and Gregory Kwiatkowski (New York) all have in common? Each of these officers was involved in excessive uses of force, some resulting in million-dollar civil settlements before they became involved in a serious bodily injury or deadly force incidents. Each lived to offend again.
Some of these errant officers have ended up costing taxpayers thousands—and in some cases, millions, in civil litigation. And amazingly enough, a few of these rogue cops continue to work as a police officers on other police departments. How does this happen? Bad cops are sometimes allowed to resign or retire in lieu of termination and then they simply move on to another police department.
How and why would a police department knowingly hire a police officer who has demonstrated a proclivity toward aggressive behavior, potential emotional and mental instability, and a wanton disregard for organizational policy and procedure?
Recently in South Carolina, the North Charleston Police Chief, upon review of a cellphone recording obtained by a citizen, acted appropriately by firing and charging Slager with murder in the death of Walter Scott. However, this had not been Slager’s first misstep. We now know that, prior to Scott, Slager is alleged to have unnecessarily tasered and arrested two other black men; Mario Givens and Julius Garnett Wilson.
Then we have the jaw-dropping, police car dashcam video of Marana, Arizona, Officer Michael Rapiejko using his police vehicle as a battering ram against Mario Valencia.
Prior to being hired by Marana, Rapiejko had worked as an officer on the New York Police Department for approximately three years. There, Rapiejko had been the subject of a $20,000 civil suit, which the city settled. Documents reported that Rapiejko allegedly threatened to shoot, handcuffed, and then choked a man. Rapiejko “left” the NYPD. In 2008, Rapiejko joined the Tuscon Police Department; he “left” Tuscon for reasons unknown. Rapiejko has been a Marana officer for a year and a half.
Who moves around like that? Police officers don’t typically change departments like NBA players changing teams. Officers who hop around like that are usually running from bad behavior. And if that is even remotely plausible, why aren’t these police departments doing a more thorough background check before they hire an individual with record of instability in their employment?
On Wednesday in Michigan, Inkster Police Department quietly fired Police Officer William Melendez. Melendez’s in-car dashcam captured the unjustified January 2015 beating of Floyd Dent during a traffic stop. Like his comrades, Melendez had been involved in multiple lawsuits while on the Detroit Police Department before Inskter hired him. The Detroit Police Department settled $1.2 million civil suit involving Melendez; he had been indicted but was later acquitted.
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