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POLICE MISCONDUCT

Police Misconduct

Procedureal Misconduct 

  • refers to police who violate police department rules and regulations

Criminal Misconduct

  • refers to police who violate state and federal laws

Constitutional Misconduct

  • refers to police who violate a citizen's Civil Rights; or any combination of the three above

Source: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Police+Corruption+and+Misconduct

Forms of Misconduct

  • Excessive Use of Physical Force,

  • Excessive Use of Deadly Force,

  • Discriminatory Arrest, 

  • Physical or Verbal Harassment, and

  • Selective Enforcement of the Law.

Source: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Police+Corruption+and+Misconduct

Complaint Register (CR's)

  • contain the complaints filed against an officer and the substance of the City’s investigationof those allegations.

LEGAL PRECEDENT @ A High Level

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

  • Governs the public's access to federal public records produced by federal agencies.

  • Each state has adopted their own FOIA legislation

    • Governs state/local public agencies, and their corresponding public records.  

  • NOTE: each state and the federal government have public record exemptions which preclude the public from accessing certain records.

Police = Public Safety Official

Public Safety Official

  • “any sheriff, undersheriff, or deputy sheriff, employed in that capacity, of a county,

  • any chief of police of a city or chief, director, or chief executive officer of a consolidated municipal public safety agency that performs police functions,

  • any police officer, employed in that capacity and appointed by the chief of police or chief, director, or chief executive of a public safety agency, of a city, any chief of police, or police officer of a district…” - California Penal Code§8301(a)

What is A Public Record @ A High Level

Public Record

  •  “includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.” California Public Records Act  §6252(e) 

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Recent Cases Supporting Access to Police Complaints

Gekas vs Williamson, Appellate Court of Illinois, 4th District

Issue:  Whether an officer's complaint history falls under an exemption to a FOIA disclosure as a personnel file? 

Holding/Ruling: Court held that as long as the "23 files document investigations of alleged wrongdoing by Gillette in the course of his public duties, they are not his personal information, and the disclosure of those files would not invade his personal privacy" and that "the same would be true of other files as well, if they related to Gillete's performance of his public duties." 

Facts: PT, a Dentist, claimed he was mistreated by a Sheriff. Filed a complaint. Internal Affairs cleared the officer of police misconduct against the Plaintiff.  Pt was not satisfied with ruling, submitted FOIA request to access Sheriff's complaint history.  Sheriff Office denied access, claiming that complaint history is part of officer's personnel file, which was exempt from disclosure (5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b)(ii)).  Pt sued, obtain access to 4 of 27 files. Pt and Def appealed decision. 

 

Stern vs Wheaton

Issue:  Whether a school superintendent’s employment contract is exempt from disclosure under section 7 of the FOIA? 

Holding/Ruling:  Court held that it is not exempt from disclosure.

 

More to Come

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