No Protection for Police Whistle Blowers, Ct'd...
By Radley Balko | March 14, 2011
Rogers, Minnesota police officers Mike Miller and Mike Hayen are under
investigation after an incident last July in which Hayen allegedly used
potentially deadly force against a motorcyclist who was fleeing as
Miller was pursuing him for speeding. A witness reported seeing Hayen
pull his squad car into the road at the last minute to block the
motorcyclist as he was riding at a high rate of speed, causing the
motorcyclist to crash. The witness says he attempted to report what he
saw but neither Hayen nor Miller took a statement from him or ever
called him back. Their report doesn't mention Hayen moving his car into
the motorcyclist's path, or the presence of the witness.
We know all of this because a month later, the witness casually
mentioned the incident to Sgt. Joleen Pitts at a police department open
house. Alarmed, Pitts relayed the story to Rogers Police Chief Jeff
Luther. Luther interviewed the witness, then opened an investigation
into Hayen and Miller. In January, Luther testified at a closed city
council meeting, where he argued that Hayen and Miller should be fired.
Hayen was put on administrative leave, but the city took no further action.
Against Hayen or Miller, that is. A month later, the city did put Luther
and Pitts on administrative leave, for "undisclosed reasons".
The city's actions floored Diane Karnitz, a Brooklyn Park detective
who has known Luther and Pitts for much of their careers.
"There's nobody that has more integrity than either of them as far
as I'm concerned," she said. Others in law enforcement who know them
"are just shaking their heads and knowing that this is an injustice,
and amazed that something like that can happen in 2011."
The previous Rogers City Council recruited Luther in late 2008 after
he left a long unblemished BCA career, said Mike Murphy, operations
supervisor at North Memorial Ambulance who has known Luther for 35
years.
"They were looking for a chief that would break away from
small-town, good-old-boy, pat-on-the-back philosophy of the past"
and run the department more professionally, he said.
Pitts has a 20-year career with a "spotless disciplinary history,"
said her attorney, Chris Wachtler. She worked on Champlin's force
before joining the Rogers department in 2005. Last year she received
a meritorious award for successfully dealing with a suicidal person
without any use of force.
Three former City Council members who hired Luther say charges
against him and Pitts are "trumped up" and retaliation for "doing
the right thing" in investigating Hayen and Miller...
Here's the kicker: Miller is godfather to the daughter of Rogers Mayor
Jason Grimm.
Oh wait. Hang on a sec. That's not the kicker. /Here's/ the kicker:
While Luther is on suspension, Miller has been named acting police chief.
http://reason.com/blog/2011/03/14/no-protection-for-police-whist?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reason%2FHitandRun+%28Reason+Online+-+Hit+%26+Run+Blog%29
<http://reason.com/blog/2011/03/14/no-protection-for-police-whist?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reason%2FHitandRun+%28Reason+Online+-+Hit+%26+Run+Blog%29>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What do you call 1,000 Republican politicians chained together with
1,000 Democrat politicians at the bottom of the ocean? A: A good start.
Learn How To Protect Your Identity And Prevent Identity Theft
<http://8f7ab0ybg8rx5p6mloffi9yw8t.hop.clickbank.net/>
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
