Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[Andrea]

Harlem Restaurant Owner Is Suing The NYPD For Arresting Him After Helping White Patrons

https://www.essence.com/news/nypd-clyde-pemberton-lawsuit/

Clyde Pemberton never expected to be arrested in his own restaurant, but that’s exactly what happened to the Harlem business owner.

According to a new federal lawsuit, Pemberton and two of his employees say they were racially profiled and falsely detained by New York Police Department officers following a bizarre scene in his establishment, MIST Harlem.

The New York Times reports:

“On June 1, 2017, Dr. Pemberton, a retired psychiatrist, was holding a business meeting at his restaurant when he saw two women leaving the bathroom, dragging a third woman who was visibly unconscious across the room at 10:30 p.m., the complaint states. The women, who were all white, knocked over a stanchion of a rope blocking off a section of the restaurant to customers.

“When Dr. Pemberton, now 68, walked over to the women to ask what was wrong and suggested the unconscious woman be placed in a chair, one woman punched him in the chest and referred to him with a racial slur, according to the complaint.”

While Pemberton and his employees, Christian Baptiste and Thomas Debnam, say they were all assaulted by the women, when police arrived they were the ones who found themselves in custody.

The New York Times explains, “One of the arresting officers, Anthony Sengco, wrote in his criminal complaint that he observed Dr. Pemberton, Mr. Baptiste and Mr. Debnam blocking the exit to the restaurant and that the men had stated to him that they were trying to prevent the women from leaving. The men deny that they made any such statements to Mr. Sengco or that they were trying to prevent the women from leaving.”

The men were charged with unlawful imprisonment and spent six hours in custody. Last November, however, the charges were dropped. Still, the traumatic ordeal has left a lasting imprint on them.

“Everything we did was in the right way and approach, and it was overlooked, ignored and disrespected, our rights as human beings,” Debnam said. “There’s a flaw in our system.”

Pemberton, a legal immigrant from Trinidad, said he’s had trouble traveling in and out of the country since his arrest, even though the charges were dismissed.

“We thought it was over,” Pemberton said, noting police have stepped up their presence at his restaurant, which he said is hurting business.

Though one of the women involved was also arrested and charged with assault with intent to cause physical injury, Pemberton’s attorney said police mishandled the incident.

“You don’t just arrest everybody on the scene and sort it out later,” Elizabeth Saylor, a civil rights lawyer, said. “They are privileged Black men who have money and the resources to fight this, but despite that it deeply affected them.”

[Andrea]

SEE IT: Cop curses out methadone patients in SoHo, yelling 'Go shoot your f------ heroin and die!'

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-metro-video-cop-curses-people-out-20180907-story.html#

An NYPD cop with his gun drawn cursed out men outside a clinic in SoHo, screaming “Shoot your f------ heroin and die!” according to a shocking video.

The clip shows the officer with his gun drawn but at his side as he approaches the group near the corner of Prince and Crosby streets.

“Taking a f------ walk right now!” the cop screams as he holsters his weapon. “I’ll knock you the f--- out.”

He storms off without arresting anyone, and hollers “Go shoot your f------ heroin and die!” the video shows.

The footage is believed to be recorded on Aug. 31, a few hours before it popped up on Facebook and Twitter.

“ALERT NYC!” wrote the Twitter user with the handle Antifa Seven Hills. “This officer responded to a minor scuffle at a methadone clinic in SOHO today with his gun out & ready to use on folks seeking help. He then told these human beings to ‘shoot your f----- heroin and die.’”

“IDENTIFY THIS PIG!” the group pleaded.

The closest methadone clinic to the scene is about two blocks away at Lafayette St. and Spring St.

An NYPD spokeswoman said that the cop’s commanding officer has been made aware of the situation and was investigating.

[Andrea]

Two Miami cops were filmed kicking people’s heads. Only one was punished.

http://amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article218652085.html?__twitter_impression=true

Police officers used excessive force in separate instances when they were caught on video kicking suspects in the head, a civilian panel tasked with watching over Miami police determined this week.

But only one of the officers has been disciplined by the police department and prosecutors for the kick. The difference, according to Miami’s Civilian Investigative Panel: The officer who was suspended and charged with a crime was caught kicking at a suspected car thief’s head on cellphone video recorded by a civilian.

In the other case, an internal review found no wrongdoing despite clear video of the officer twice using the heel of his shoe to stomp on the head of a female teenaged armed robbery suspect while she was lying on the ground. But video of that incident only came to light several months after the incident, when a virtual policing unit retrieved it for trial and became alarmed enough to pass it along to supervisors.

Miami police officer John Askew was cleared of any wrongdoing by Internal Affairs after police body-cam video surfaced of him using force to subdue an armed robbery suspect. Now a civilian oversight panel thinks something should be done about it.

The difference in how police responded to the cases, some CIP members concluded, shows what a powerful tool bystander cellphone videos have become in capturing the actions of officers — actions that in the past were rarely seen by the public.

Elisabeth Albert, a CIP investigator with two decades of policing experience, told panel members the bodycam video would never have been discovered if not for the action of the virtual policing unit. Unlike how the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office dealt with the highly publicized cellphone video, the bodycam footage was passed back to the police department and treated as an in-house administrative matter.

“It was handled differently without the video out there,” Albert said.

The first incident involved the May 3 arrest of David Suazo, 31, who eventually pleaded guilty and agreed to 30 months in prison for grand theft auto, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and fleeing from police. According to police and investigators from the CIP, police were watching Suazo’s home when he emerged and started driving a 2000 Jeep Cherokee that had been reported stolen in Broward County.

Police said they followed Suazo to Overtown and when they turned on their sirens he sped up toward the Culmer Apartments, crashed the vehicle into a wall and fled on foot. Police bodycam footage captured some officers, who couldn’t leap a spiked metal fence in a courtyard to get to Suazo, running through apartments.

At one point, officer Mario Figueroa confronted Suazo through the fence and fired his Taser, which had no effect. Then, after another officer subdued Suazo on the grass — lying on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind his back — Figueroa is seen racing toward him and delivering a running kick to the suspect’s head. Suazo appears to move his head in the video and Figueroa’s kick appears to miss its target.

Despite at least three officers wearing body cameras, none of them captured the kick. Figueroa claimed his camera fell off his uniform as he was running toward Suazo. The video, taken by a former Florida International University student who lives in the complex, received substantial play after she posted it on her Facebook page and sent a copy to Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina.

Colina immediately declared that the video “depicts a clear violation of policy” and suspended the two-year cop with pay pending the outcome of an investigation. Five days later, state prosecutors, who have rarely filed criminal cases against officers, charged Figueroa with assault. Figueroa said he thought the officer was struggling to subdue Suazo and was going to kick him to get him to comply, but changed direction of the kick in mid-stream when he realized Suazo was not resisting.

“What he did land was intent. The intent to me does way more damage,” said CIP member Courtney Omega. The board voted unanimously that Figueroa used excessive force.

The second incident was more contentious for CIP members, with some arguing that the officer had the right to fear for his life when he saw a dark object fly by while trying to subdue a woman suspected of armed robbery. That object turned out to be her blue flip-flop.

It was February 2017 when police received a call saying an armed man had stolen a woman’s purse from her car at Northwest Seventh Avenue and 71st Street and then fled in a car. Police spotted the car and gave chase. It eventually crashed in Miami Shores at Northwest Second Court and 94th Street. The driver bailed and jumped a fence. But when police found a teenaged girl who had been in the car behind a patrol car, they began chasing her.

Bodycam video worn by one officer shows another officer taking the girl, known only as TJ, to the ground, then losing control of her and rolling away. That’s when Miami police officer John Askew is spotted running toward the girl with what appears to be a Taser in one hand and a radio in the other. With TJ on the ground, Askew twice stomps on her head with the heel of his right shoe.

“Move again, I dare you,” he’s heard saying while handcuffing her.

When the video is slowed, the dark object turned out to be her flip-flop flying in the air as Askew approaches her. There was no mention of the object initially by Askew in his report. But several months later, after viewing it prior to his internal affairs investigation, the officer claimed he feared it was the weapon used in the crime. State prosecutors who viewed the video passed it back to police, saying the issue should be dealt with administratively. Police found no wrongdoing with Askew’s actions.

He was eventually suspended a week without pay but for not filling out a use-of-force memo, which is required any time an officer uses force. Askew told internal affairs investigators he didn’t consider the episode to be a use-of-force.

Some CIP members — who are appointed by city commissioners, the mayor and police chief — said despite no known police training that involves kicking, anything goes in hand-to-hand combat, especially when police fear a suspect still has control of a weapon used in a crime.

CIP member Stephen Navarrete said he watched the video two dozen times and broke it down frame-by-frame. He said Askew only saw her behind the patrol car at the last moment and had the right to use force to subdue her, especially because he didn’t know where the weapon was and he saw a dark object fly past. The gun was eventually found in the backseat of the car that the suspects crashed.

“It looked bad. It looked ugly. But when she went down there was no control of her. He used his feet to control her. He thought she may have had the gun,” Navarrete said. “But before you vote tonight I think it’s important to remember this was an armed robbery. Anybody can pull a trigger.”

Other members, though, weren’t buying Navarrete’s narrative.

“This is like setting community policing back 30 years,” said panel member Deidria Davis.

Offered Minca Brantely: “It’s pretty obvious, you don’t kick people in the head. I teach that to my 7-year-old.”

The state eventually dropped all charges against TJ. The CIP panel voted 8-3, saying Askew used excessive force. Navarrete, Alvaro Puente and Noel Rojas were in the minority.

Now, CIP Executive Director Cristina Beamud will pen a letter to Colina arguing Askew should be disciplined for the kicks. Colina is not likely to do much. His office already said nothing will be done unless the panel finds new evidence that internal affairs hasn’t already taken into consideration.

The panel also voted to let Colina know that the video of the Miami officer driving over a grassy swale and a sidewalk and of Askew kicking the suspect should be used as a training video for Miami police — on how not to take a suspect into custody.

[Andrea]

Members Of A Far-Right Men’s Group Violently Beat Up Protesters And Weren’t Arrested. New York Police Won’t Say Why.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/proud-boys-gavin-mcinnes-protest?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc

Far-right men’s organization “Proud Boys” violently beat two or three apparent protesters Friday night following a Republican event in Manhattan.

About 30 members of the group — describe themselves as "Western chauvinists" and have frequently aligned themselves with avowed neo-Nazis — participated in the beating, some screaming threats and slurs at the individuals, according to video and an eyewitness account.

Although New York Police Department officers were present at the time of the attack, none of the Proud Boys were arrested for the beatdown.

However, separately, three other protesters were arrested for attacking a person leaving the event.

Police have not yet explained why there were no arrests made in the assault on the protesters, despite multiple inquiries by BuzzFeed News Saturday. The NYPD later released a statement saying that it was reviewing video and evidence to determine if additional crimes were committed.

"There is no tolerance for violence anywhere in New York City, and the NYPD will do everything in its power to ensure public safety," the statement said.

The beating followed a speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnis, in which he reenacted the samurai sword assassination of Japanese socialist leader Inejiro Asanuma, calling it an “inspiring moment.” The club advertised the event on its Facebook page saying, “Banned from Twitter — this Godfather of the Hipster Movement has taken on and exposed the Deep State Socialists and stood up for Western Values.”

McInnes, who was also a cofounder of Vice Media, has been suspended from Twitter in August, along with the group’s main account, @ProudBoysUSA, for violating its policy on “violent extremist groups.”

Ahead of Friday's event, the Metropolitan Republican Club’s headquarters had been vandalized with anarchist symbols and broken windows and doors, according to the New York Times. There was a note left that said that the vandalism was related to McInnes’s upcoming appearance.

“Last night the Metropolitan Republican Club was vandalized by the leftist hate group Antifa, who also left a note promising ‘this is just the beginning’ and threatening more violence,” the group posted to Facebook.
youtube.com

Shay Horse, a 25-year-old photojournalist from Brooklyn who was at the scene, told BuzzFeed News that the incident started after police escorted the event attendees — which included the Proud Boys — out of the building at the conclusion of the event.

McInnes was not present for the melee and had been escorted out earlier, carrying the samurai sword, and driven away by a car waiting outside the venue.

“There was a big group of like 30 of them, and they came out grunting…trying to hype each other up,” Horse said. The photojournalist said that police walked them only as far as the corner and did not make them disperse.

The NYPD said that police officers had been assigned to monitor the protest outside of the Metropolitan Republican Club on East 83rd Street and that there were no incidents at that location.

The beating occurred about two blocks away.

Horse said he saw “two or three bodies on the ground” and the Proud Boys all beating them in a group.

Members of the Proud Boys told Horse the brawl began when the protesters knocked a “Make America Great Again” hat off a member’s head.

“I heard them screaming and swearing at some guy on the ground,” Horse said. “They were beating the shit out of him and kicking him in the head. One guy had his foot on the guy’s neck.”

The Proud Boys also screamed slurs and threats at the people on the ground, Horse said. “One dude started screaming, ‘Do you feel brave now, faggot?’” he said.

Horse said he saw one of the victims’ faces was swollen and “was totally on the ground, couldn’t even talk...they just had their limbs up in a half-guard.”

“It was just a pummeling — it wasn’t really a fight, because the three people never really got a chance to even stand up,” he said.

Then, a police officer rolled up on a scooter and “just went totally slack-jawed and stared at the fight,” Horse said.

Horse said he yelled “Do something!” at the cop, who then “ran into the crowd flailing his arms saying ‘that’s enough, that’s enough.’”

The Proud Boys then peeled off — without being arrested or questioned by police — and made their way to a bar downtown. The people who were beaten hobbled off with their arms around each other for support, Horse said.

Three men were arrested nearby, in what appears to have been a separate clash following the Proud Boys event. In a tweet, senior Legal Aid staff attorney Rebecca Kavanagh suggested that the men arrested had been "anti-racist protestors" demonstrating the McInnis event.

NYPD told BuzzFeed News that at around 8:40 p.m. Friday, the officers saw the three men assaulting someone a few blocks from the event at East 84th Street and Third Avenue.

Police said they would not “confirm any known group association or whether or not they attended the event you reference or attack on anyone who did attend.”

The men, identified as Caleb Perkins, 35, Kai Russo, 20, and Finbarr Slonim, 20, were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday. All three individuals face two counts of assault and one count each of larceny, aggravated harassment, attempted assault, and harassment, according to court documents. Perkins also faces one count of resisting arrest.

According to court documents, Perkins, Russo, and Slonim struck the victim in the face and that another man who was not arrested took the victim's backpack. The victim refused medical attention and is cooperating with police, the complaint states.

Gavin Wax, publisher of the online news site the Schpiel who attended the Proud Boys event and witnessed the alleged assault by the protesters, told BuzzFeed News he and a friend were walking toward the subway when they saw two masked individuals approach a man "who was backpedaling with his fists up" on Third Avenue.

"He was sweating. He had bruises on his face and he was calling for help," Wax said.

Wax said he and his friend then ran over and "split them up." At that point, Wax said, the victim yelled out that another man who was nearby with several others had his backpack and ran toward the group.

"He ran and they chased and we chased," Wax said.

Wax said they ended up at the corner of 84th and Third where the assailants started chanting, "He's a Nazi, he's a Nazi. Don't defend him."

Police arrived and arrested three individuals, while others ran off, Wax said.

Wax's friend Jake Freijo corroborated his account and told BuzzFeed News the victim was visibly "distraught" and had "a few contact marks on his face" that were purplish in color "turning to black and blue."

"He was very overwhelmed and he asked us to help him," Freijo said.

Moira Meltzer-Cohen, an attorney for Perkins, Russo, and Slonim, told BuzzFeed News Saturday that she does not "believe that the allegations are going to hold water" after an investigation into Friday's incidents. She declined to comment further.

NYPD ignored multiple emails from BuzzFeed News asking why Proud Boys members were not arrested for the violent assault, while protesters were. In a phone call following up on BuzzFeed's emails, police said they are “researching a response.”

Several New York elected officials — all Democrats — expressed outrage over the violence, and called on the NYPD and the New York City District Attorney's office to take action against the Proud Boys, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"Authorities must review these videos immediately and make arrests and prosecute as appropriate," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. "Hate cannot and will not be tolerated in New York."

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson also called on the police department to thoroughly investigate the incident.

"NYC needs to send a message that violence and bigotry are not welcome anywhere in America and certainly not in the five boroughs," Johnson said on Twitter.

And New York Public Advocate Letitia James called on the NYPD to arrest all the Proud Boys involved in the beating.

"I am disturbed and disgusted by the videos I’ve seen of members of the neo-fascist, white supremacist Proud Boys group engaging in hate-fueled mob violence on the streets of New York City," James said. "New York will not become the next Charlottesville, and we refuse to let the actions of a hateful few define our City."

James said she would also urge the District Attorney to pursue hate crime charges due to "the clear homophobic and anti-immigrant sentiments expressed in the videos."

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood echoed the sentiments, saying on Twitter that "hate has no place in New York."

"This warrants immediate and thorough investigation by the NYPD to bring the perpetrators to justice," Underwood said. Her office declined to comment further.

[Andrea]

Police Officer Fired After He’s Filmed Telling People He’s ‘Trigger-Happy’

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/police-fired-trigger-happy_us_5bc843c1e4b0d38b58752277?ncid=tweetlnkush pmg00000067

A police officer was fired after being caught on camera threatening a crowd of people to back away because he was “trigger happy.”

The decision to let Officer Stephen Barone go was the result of both internal investigations and a formal hearing process following the August incident as well as a July traffic incident, Hartford, Connecticut, Police Chief David Rosado said in a statement Wednesday.

“I did not make this decision lightly,” Rosado said. “After reviewing the findings related to these two incidents, it’s clear to me that there’s no scenario in which Mr. Barone can return to his duties as a productive member of the Hartford Police Department.”

The video, shot by one of the men Barone stopped, captured him telling a group suspected of trespassing, “If anybody wants to fight or run, I’m a little trigger-happy, guys, I’m not gonna lie.”

He added that he wouldn’t be eligible for overtime if he shoots someone, claiming he’d lose $70,000 and would have to sell his home and his cars. “So don’t do anything stupid. All right?”

The group was stopped around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 outside of an abandoned building. Officers searched them for contraband and gave them tickets for trespassing. One of the suspects can be heard calling Barone’s words “spooky.”

The investigation concluded that Barone, who is white, didn’t violate the civil rights of the group, who are mostly black and Hispanic. But community leaders and pastors told the Hartford Courant that the incident highlighted problems that arise with a mostly white police department that doesn’t reflect the makeup of the city.

“He had a weapon. His badge gave him a lot of authority. And he abused it,” Abdul Shahid Ansari, president of the Greater Hartford branch of the NAACP, told the Courant.

The investigation also determined that Barone never called off a police chase in July. He was demoted in September while the police department investigated his conduct, a move he appealed.

Barone said in an internal affairs interview that he could have used “a better choice of words,” but maintained that they were “effective in maintaining control.”

[Andrea]

Body cam footage: A grand jury cleared this officer in the shooting of a jaywalker

https://www.circa.com/story/2018/10/26/nation/body-cam-footage-a-grand-jury-cleared-this-officer-in-the-shooting-of-a-jaywalker

JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. (KTVL) — The district attorney for Oregon's Jackson County released body camera footage from a September officer-involved shooting on Friday.

Officer Daniel Cardenas fatally shot Matthew Graves on Sept. 19 in the bathroom of the Eagle Point Carl's Jr. restaurant.

During this week's grand jury proceedings, Cardenas testified that backup Officer CJ Davis alerted him to what he thought was Graves holding a firearm, but that actually turned out to be Cardenas' own Taser.

Cardenas fired two shots, killing Graves. Five of the seven jurors concluded that the officer's actions did not violate the law. The Eagle Point Police Department conducted an internal investigation into the shooting and found no wrongful action on the part of the officers involved.

Southern Oregon University criminal justice professor Tiffany Morey says that even with body camera video, what the public sees afterward may be different than what the officer feels in the moment.

"When it goes to grand jury to see if it was a justified shooting, it is what that officer was experiencing at that time," Morey said. "What did the officer see? What did the officer feel? Did the officer feel that their life, or possibly one of the citizens that they're protecting's life was at jeopardy?"

She says that body cameras can shed meaningful light on an incident and should be used, but it must be remembered that they only capture action at one angle, and can't always convey what the officer perceives in the moment.

A use-of-force expert who testified echoed that notion, saying that the adrenaline can impact an officer's ability to process information, and it is reasonable that in the moment a taser could be mistaken for a gun.

Cardenas and Davis are cleared to go back to work and the case is closed.

The body cam footage was released unedited, however KTVL chose not to show the second half of the video due to its graphic nature. The first 4 minutes, 44 seconds of the video play uninterrupted with only the audible swearing bleeped over. A complete transcript of Officer Cardenas' body camera was also written.

[Andrea]

Two Indiana Police Officers to be Charged After Video Shows Them Beating Handcuffed Man

https://www.propublica.org/article/elkhart-police-charges-tk?token=mEv2NmfUQDFn1rsX0e4aLy4sL9WqeQ2Y&utm_camp aign=sprout&utm_source=social&utm_medium=video&utm _term=twitter

Two Elkhart, Indiana, police officers who punched a handcuffed man in the face more than 10 times will face criminal charges — 11 months after the fact, and only after The South Bend Tribune requested video of the incident as part of an ongoing investigation with ProPublica.

The two officers, Cory Newland and Joshua Titus, will be charged with misdemeanor counts of battery, the police department announced Friday. Both have been placed on administrative leave pending the case’s outcome, department spokesman Sgt. Travis Snider said.

The department also released the video of the beating after 5 p.m. Friday — more than three weeks after The Tribune requested a copy.

Five months ago, the two officers were disciplined for this incident. But they received reprimands rather than suspensions or possible termination.

Speaking to the city’s civilian oversight commission in June, Police Chief Ed Windbigler said the officers used “a little more force than needed” with a suspect in custody, and “just went a little overboard when they took him to the ground.” But Windbigler offered no other details, saying nothing of the two officers punching the man in the face.
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The video was recorded in the police station’s detention area after the Jan. 12 arrest of Mario Guerrero Ledesma, who was 28 at the time. The footage shows Ledesma, in handcuffs, sitting in a chair while Newland, Titus and two other officers stand nearby. At one point, Ledesma prepares to spit at Newland, and the officer warns him not to.

As Ledesma spits, Newland and Titus immediately tackle him, and the back of Ledesma’s head strikes the concrete floor. The two officers then jump on him and punch him in the face repeatedly while one calls him a “piece of shit.”

Two other officers walk up casually as the punches are being thrown. “Stop,” one can be heard saying, as the beating ends.

Ledesma pleaded guilty in July to charges of domestic battery and resisting law enforcement, and was sentenced to a year in jail, with 133 days suspended.

The Tribune and ProPublica have been investigating criminal justice in Elkhart County, looking at police accountability, among other issues.

A Tribune reporter requested the Ledesma video after noting a disparity between Windbigler’s public description to the Police Merit Commission — the city panel that exercises civilian oversight — and what the chief wrote in personnel records.

In a June 12 letter of reprimand to Newland, Windbigler wrote: “I completely understand defending yourself during an altercation. However, striking a handcuffed subject in the face is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. We cannot let our emotions direct our reactions or over-reactions to situations such as this.”

The personnel files provided by the police department did not include any response from Newland or Titus to the disciplinary allegations.

Windbigler ended his disciplinary letters to both officers on an upbeat note: “I consider this matter closed!”

At the June 25 meeting of the Police Merit Commission, chairman James Rieckhoff asked Windbigler if anyone had been injured in this incident.

“No,” Windbigler said.

Windbigler, explaining why he opted for only reprimands, told the commission that Titus “had no previous complaints.” He said of Newland: “Here, again, he had no other incidents in his file, so this is his first incident of any type of force.”

“Any questions on this one?” Rieckhoff asked the commission’s other members.

“Just a comment,” commissioner Thomas Barber said. “I like how you police your own.”

“Yes, sir,” Windbigler said.

On Friday, The Tribune requested an interview with the chief, but Snider, the police spokesman, said the department would have no further comment beyond its announcement of the pending charges.

Neither Newland nor Titus immediately returned messages left at their department phone lines. Efforts to reach them at other phone numbers were also unsuccessful.

History of Misconduct

For Newland, the reprimand was not his first disciplinary incident. It was his ninth, according to personnel records gathered by The Tribune and ProPublica.

After being hired in 2008, Newland was suspended six times and reprimanded twice in his first five years.

In 2009, Newland was “very rude and unprofessional,” using profanity toward a member of the public while responding to a call, personnel records say. The police chief at the time, Dale Pflibsen, suspended Newland for one day. “You have been employed for just over one year and this is not the first allegation of you verbally loosing (sic) control towards the public,” Pflibsen wrote to Newland.

“I want to emphasize we will not tolerate this behavior from you towards anyone,” Pflibsen added. “If you plan on continuing your career at the Elkhart Police Department I suggest you seek counseling for anger management.”

The next year, in 2010, Newland was suspended one day for causing a car crash.

In 2011, Newland received a three-day suspension for conduct unbecoming an officer. After arresting a woman for public nudity — she and her boyfriend were having sex in their car, in Elkhart’s McNaughton park — Newland sent her a friend request on Facebook and seven text messages, asking to “hang out.”

“Needless to say you attempting to establish a relationship with this female, a defendant in a criminal case, is unprofessional,” Pflibsen wrote to Newland. “This type of conduct will not be tolerated by you or anyone else.”

One year later, in February 2012, Newland was suspended again, this time for one day. Newland, while off duty, flipped off another driver — who, it turned out, was a jail officer in St. Joseph County, according to a disciplinary letter. Newland also drove recklessly, “brake checking” the other driver, according to disciplinary records.

“Should there be another sustained allegation of this type of misconduct on or off duty I will seriously consider your termination from the Elkhart Police Department,” Pflibsen wrote to Newland.

Exactly one week later, still in February, Newland received a three-day suspension for not turning on his video-audio recording equipment “while on numerous calls and traffic stops,” a disciplinary notice says.

Newland’s last suspension — and his longest, for 35 days — came in the summer of 2013. Newland failed to investigate a woman’s complaint of domestic violence, then lied about it to his superiors, according to disciplinary records.

When asked directly by supervisors if the woman had said her husband hit her, Newland “indicated that she had not made any such statement, and only that there was some pushing involved,” a disciplinary letter said. But “within minutes of the end of the interview,” Newland “returned and informed his supervisors that the victim had, in fact, reported being hit by her husband.”

An audio recording captured the woman telling Newland she had been hit, and that her husband did so in front of her children, a disciplinary letter says.

Newland’s failure to be truthful did more than violate department policy, Pflibsen wrote to the civilian oversight board. If a police officer testifies as a witness, authorities must disclose if the officer “has been dishonest in his or her official capacity,” Pflibsen wrote, adding: “This incident has been referred to the Prosecutor’s Office and may have a significant detrimental impact on their ability to prosecute this case.”