A judge today dismissed all charges against Pittsburgh high school student Jordan Miles, who claims he was badly beaten by three police officers during his arrest in Homewood.Miles was originally charged with
While it is of course great news that the charges have been dropped, more can and should be done while the Office of Municipal Investigations and the FBI investigate this case:
Training
Pittsburgh City Police have enrolled in the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Program but still haven't attained accredited status. Why?
And, speaking of training (and violence), back in 2007 when the Police Dept. was facing heat for promoting three offices with histories of domestic violence, the department was offered free (foundation-paid) training on domestic violence from David Thomas an expert on the subject at Johns Hopkins. I do not believe that they have ever availed themselves of this training.
Citizen Police Review Board
For all the great work they do, they seem to have no teeth.
Charles Hanlon, Fraternal Order of Police vice president, recently said of the board that they were biased by nature." With that sort of negative attitude, it shouldn't be surprising that their recommendations and queries are often ignored.
For example, when Sgt. Eugene Hlavac was accused of recklessly endangering a group of bicyclists and having anger management issues, the Brass rejected the CPRB's call that Hlavac "be suspended for seven days, undergo retraining and anger management, and possibly face prosecution by the district attorney." Hlavac was later fired after he dislocated his ex-girlfriend's jaw. He was also one of the three officers mentioned in the above promotion controversy.
One of the reasons the police cited in not following the CPRB's recommendations was that they came so late after the original incident. The CPRB complained at the time that, "It would be incumbent upon the city to facilitate an expedited release of documents from the Office of Municipal Investigations."
We see this foot-dragging behavior again with the CPRB being compelled to go to court to seek police records from the Group of 20 summit where charges of improper police conduct have been made.
It's hopefully clear to anyone reading this that there are systemic and global problems that go far beyond the Jordan Miles case.
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Amen!!
ReplyDeleteWell, the Citizen's Review Board has zero credibility. It was a good idea, but when the CRB upon hearing its first cases came right out of the gate recommending punishments that would have gotten the city sucessfully sued by the officers had they been implemented, it became a toothless entity. Their actions confirmed the accusations that the FOP cited as reasons to refuse to cooperate. Blow it up, and start over again from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteThat said, as to the case at hand, the city might as well start writing the check.
Pittsburgh's Fraternal Order Of Police May Ask Charges To Be Re-Filed Against Jordan Miles - kdka.com
ReplyDeletehttp://kdka.com/local/Jordan.Miles.charges.2.1538644.html
i heard about the "may refile" and i had some really bad language floating around in my head!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what good refiling the charges will do. The stop, as far as I can see, is a Terry stop, and based on what's been in the paper, this stop fails to meet the Terry standard. Get out the checkbook.
ReplyDeleteFor those like me who never heard of a "Terry Stop":
ReplyDeleteTerry v. Ohio
This AP story is worth a read as it has some additional details not mentioned in the P-G article.
ReplyDeleteI had a run-in with mr. Hlavoc myself. Being only 19, and a homosexual.. I see a trend. Too bad I cant post my "mug shot." (I mean, the picture that shows the bruises and scabs all over my face from being nearly kicked to death.)
ReplyDelete