Posts tagged police officer
Former captain sues sheriff, saying he wouldn’t bow to corruption
February 9, 2025 // On Nov. 12, Philip was given orders to arrest the head of the deputies union, Carlos Tapia, who had been critical of Corpus. Instead of arresting Tapia, Philip quit, saying there was no “factual basis to warrant the arrest” alleging timecard fraud. District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe later threw out the Tapia’s case. Philip’s lawsuit says the arrest of Tapia followed a pattem of retaliation by Corpus and her former chief of staft and alleged boyfriend, Victor Aenile.
Former Alton police officer accused of stealing funds from police union
July 31, 2024 // According to a release from the AG, Jeremiah Dressler, 41, of Brighton, Ill., has been charged with theft, felony theft by deception, and wire fraud. Dressler turned himself in on Friday at the Madison County Sheriff’s Office after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He set to reappear in court on August 9.
Former Scranton Police Officer And Police Union President Sentenced To Imprisonment For Federal Program Fraud In Connection With Overtime Patrol Shifts At Scranton Area Housing Complexes
June 7, 2024 // The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Paul Helring, age 48, a former Scranton police officer and the former elected police union president, was sentenced on June 4, 2024, by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani to 6 months’ imprisonment and a 2-year term of supervised release for the offense of Theft Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, from approximately March 2021 to May 2022, while serving as the coordinator of Scranton Police Department’s extra duty overtime program, Helring knowingly obtained by fraud over $5,000.00 in compensation that was paid to him for certain extra duty patrol shifts at local, Scranton-area, lower-income housing complexes that Helring claimed to work but did not in fact work. In all, the investigation found a total of 526 hours that Helring claimed to work patrolling the complexes but that he did not actually work. At his sentencing, Helring was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $17,831.40 and to pay a fine of $5000.00. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service as a condition of his supervised release.
NYPD officer sues city, claiming years of sexual abuse by union
November 27, 2023 // In a lawsuit filed Wednesday afternoon, Officer Meaghan Ciotti, 39, said Officer Jamie Angelastro demanded sexual favors from her, threatened her with his gun, strangled her and violently raped her. Ciotti said she has suffered from migraines, neck pain, panic attacks and crippling fear because of the alleged abuse. The suit comes a day before the deadline for the Adult Survivors Act, a state law that provides an extra year for people to file sexual assault lawsuits past the statute of limitations, in civil court.
NYPD officer cites ‘courtesy cards,’ used by friends and family of cops, as source of corruption
June 1, 2023 // A New York City police officer is speaking out against the use of “courtesy cards” by friends and relatives of his colleagues on the force, accusing department leaders of maintaining a sprawling system of impunity that lets people with a connection to law enforcement avoid traffic tickets. Though not officially recognized by the NYPD, the laminated cards have long been treated as a perk of the job. The city’s police unions issue them to members, who circulate them among those who want to signal their NYPD connections — often to get out of minor infraction like speeding or failing to wear a seat belt.
Metro officer asks US Supreme Court to hear suit over union fees
December 22, 2022 // Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, said it will take months to know if the Supreme Court will hear the lawsuit. He said that since the 2018 ruling, unions have been using restriction periods like the one in Metro’s collective bargaining agreement to determine when someone can resign from a union and stop paying dues. The petition argued that the 20-day resignation period was enacted in a new collective bargaining agreement from July 2019, and that the only form she signed authorizing dues deductions was in 2006.
Police union presidential candidate got 20-hour pay suspension after pulling gun while off duty
December 14, 2022 // But early this year, Reyes was the one under investigation. In February, Reyes had his wallet and police badge stolen by a man he met on a dating app in Tallahassee — a man he later pointed a gun at and allegedly forced to the ground. Tallahassee Police's report on the incident was redacted and MPD refused to comment on the ensuing Internal Affairs case. Now, documents obtained by WLRN show Reyes was offered a reduced punishment by the MPD Chief of Police: 20 hours of unpaid suspension, half the amount recommended by IA. One local civil rights attorney believes the decision creates a "bad perception" of the police department. Speaking to WLRN, Reyes insists he had the right to "stand [his] ground" and, having served his suspension, he is now campaigning to maintain his leadership at the FOP against controversial former MPD captain Javier Ortiz.
HOW AMENDMENT 1 COULD GIVE ILLINOIS MORE ARSONISTS AS FIRE CHIEFS
May 27, 2022 // Analysis by the Illinois Policy Institute shows the language of the amendment would allow abuses of unionization and collective bargaining rights to nullify more than 350 existing state statutes. The amendment creates new threats for a wide variety of sectors, including policing, child care services and education. The impact of Amendment 1 would likely be felt by virtually all Illinoisans – including children.
At Ninth Circuit, Las Vegas Police Officer Defends First Amendment Right to Stop Funding Unwanted Union
April 22, 2022 // Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officer Melodie DePierro is challenging an “escape period” enforced by officials of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association (PPA) union as an infringement of her constitutional rights recognized in the 2018 Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision. DePierro ended her PPA membership in 2020.