False Police Report

[CdwJava]

I'll go for expungement and move on. The cops do what they want and there is no oversight.

Expungement? You were convicted of something?

The heated discussions on these boards are productive. I hope no one is too offended.

Certainly not I.


- Carl

 

[Johnmelissa]

False Report

Thanks again for the objective, balanced and comprehensive responses, Carl. You're an honorable official. I was told once that there are 2 kinds of police officers, those who want to help people in need and bullies who want to abuse. I appreciate the help you've provided here.

I've spent almost $30,000 suing, petitioning for a TRO, and participating in arbitration. I have won only agreements to stop the nuisances such as revving car engines, sand rails and radios and an arbitrators order to remove flood lights that are aimed at the windows of my house and property all night. Trust me I have sued with minimal success.

As I said, these discussions are productive and sort of sift out the useless chaff. I will probably go for expungement of an arrest and move on. I have never had anything to do with any part of the justice system until this neighbor/cop moved in next door, trespassed, tore down my fence without permission or permit and perpetrated repeated nuisances including multiple forms of harassment of my family and friends even while I was out of town. Before this "sworn police officer" sprayed me with water then had me arrested for spraying water, I had never been accused, arrested, tried or convicted of anything. I would seek expungement or the sealing of this arrest record as a matter of form. I'm retired now and not worried at all about an arrest.

One point about this forum. I don't understand why others here conduct personal attacks without offering anything substantive. I would think if some of the other "contributors" don't have something to add, they would just go on to the next subject. All the folks writing for this site could and should read your responses, Carl, and learn how to best function here. Wow! I'm sure glad you can't bill me. If you had been my attorney, I'd owe a ton for what you've written. I'm outta here. Thanks.

P.S. I forgot to say that I don't disagree with your points, Carl. I'm just arguing out the logic. The fact is that you're 99% right and I can't remember what the other 1% was.

 

[Johnmelissa]

Police Report

Carl, if you're still there, how does a person obtain a police report. Does the agency have a legal obligation to provide it to people mentioned in it. I asked the local Sheriff's desk for a copy and the clerk and corporal refused, saying I had to talk to a Sgt. on Monday. Does a citizen have to submit to questioning or meet some other obligation to obtain a police report in which his name exists? Is it law that agencies must simply provide the report without discussion, interrogation, attempts at intimidation or harassment?

Thanks.

 

[CdwJava]

Carl, if you're still there, how does a person obtain a police report. Does the agency have a legal obligation to provide it to people mentioned in it.

No.

Government Code 6254(f) permits law enforcement to restrict the release of these reports as investigative files. This does not mean that they CAN not release it, only that they MAY not do so if they choose. Most agencies in CA choose NOT to release these reports except as a result of subpoena, court order, or through discovery.

If this relates to a criminal act that you have been charged with, then your attorney would obtain a copy in discovery ... or he should. Discovery is generally conducted through the District Attorney's office, or by way of court order.

- Carl

 

[Johnmelissa]

Report Release

OK. My neighbor called the police 2.5 months ago and claimed my wife sprayed water onto their property. The responding Deputy gave us a courtesy notification then and said the neighbor INSISTED that a report be filed. 2.5 months later, no one has contacted my wife or me. She was told her name was in the report so she could have a copy. She went to the desk yesterday and they refused to give her a copy saying she had to get a copy from a Sgt. ??? on Monday. What will the Sgt. demand from my wife in order for her to received the copy that she was told 2.5 months that she could have. It's a whole bunch of childish game playing and my wife and I will NEVER say a word to a cop again after they used our simple truth and factual words against us falsely the last time. This is like the twighlight zone but I guess the "Brotherhood" is REALLY strong.

 

[CdwJava]

OK. My neighbor called the police 2.5 months ago and claimed my wife sprayed water onto their property.

I remember you posting about that.

The responding Deputy gave us a courtesy notification then and said the neighbor INSISTED that a report be filed.

Sometimes that happens.

2.5 months later, no one has contacted my wife or me.

Apparently no one decided it met the criteria to file with the DA and decided not to follow up on it. OR, it was filed with the DA and then rejected.

She was told her name was in the report so she could have a copy.

Who told her that? Very often patrol officers have little or inadequate knowledge of records' procedures, so the info she received may have been incorrect.

She went to the desk yesterday and they refused to give her a copy saying she had to get a copy from a Sgt. ??? on Monday.

Probably because a supervisor has to approve the release of any report - likely a procedural thing ... IF they release it at all.

What will the Sgt. demand from my wife in order for her to received the copy that she was told 2.5 months that she could have.

I couldn't say. It's a policy issue, not a legal one. legally, they likely do not HAVE to give her or you a copy of the report.

It's a whole bunch of childish game playing and my wife and I will NEVER say a word to a cop again after they used our simple truth and factual words against us falsely the last time.

That's your choice.

This is like the twighlight zone but I guess the "Brotherhood" is REALLY strong.

A tad melodramatic, don't you think?

Again, legally they don't have to give this report up (provided it is classified as an investigative report) ... if they choose to do so, then they are far more open than many agencies in the state.

- Carl

 

[Johnmelissa]

Report Release

A tad melodramatic. I like that. Actually, a tad paranoiac which is what I've become. I said before that, having received a Purple Heart in Viet Nam, I thought I was a good citizen(no record, no tickets, no nothin'), respectful of the law and police officers, and had a certain kinship with cops (some called Viet Nam a police action, right?). Then one day I get set up by a neighbor/cop from another county and the deputies with jurisdiction here falsely arrested me and they new it (the rookie Sgt. who knew she had screwed up ran around the jail saying nervously, "I don't know how to resolve this."). Paranoia, that's it.

It's like the twilight zone when a cop sprays you with a garden hose, you spray back, he runs in the house, hides in there, sends his family out to act like victims, calls the cops, has you arrested and the cops go along with the whole conspiracy and farce. That's the Twilight Zone. The cops knew he was a cop and this was absurd (like the DA later). A cop made an arrest for another cop and the Sgt. who knew it was wrong and was being told it was wrong went along with it. That's the Twilight Zone. Boy that was a great and glorious day for law enforcement as they apprehended and incarcerated a horrible and vicious menace to society, right?

In particular, the melodrama is generated by another false report and like I said the officer said they NEVER write a report on some water going over the fence when a person is watering their garden but somehow this time the officers were compelled to write this silly report. You've indicated it was NOT a brotherhood thing but the officer said they NEVER write this type of situation. How the heck did the lying neighbor/cop get this to turn into a report? The local police are totally manipulated by this guy or are party to it.

As usual, you're right. This is procedural. The agency wants to control this release and they want a Sgt. to be responsible for it and sign off on it.

Thanks.

 

[CdwJava]

It's like the twilight zone when a cop sprays you with a garden hose, you spray back, he runs in the house, hides in there, sends his family out to act like victims, calls the cops, has you arrested and the cops go along with the whole conspiracy and farce. That's the Twilight Zone.

Penal Code section 837 requires the police to act on a citizen's arrest. In fact, it would have been a misdemeanor for the officers NOT to act on it.

Yes, it's likely they gave the fellow officer the benefit of the doubt. But, as with all allegations, the DA gets to decide if there is sufficient cause to file charges. If charges are filed, a court decides the matter and can wheigh the veracity of the complainant and the witnesses. In these matters, the responding officers are rarely a witness as they were not present when the act occurred, and when they ARE witnesses, it tends to be with regard to what they saw or heard upon arrival.

In particular, the melodrama is generated by another false report and like I said the officer said they NEVER write a report on some water going over the fence when a person is watering their garden but somehow this time the officers were compelled to write this silly report.

Spraying someone with water is battery (per PC 242) in CA. While rarely prosecuted, it is - in theory - a criminal act.


- Carl

 

[Johnmelissa]

Petition to Seal and Destroy Arrest Record

Carl, do you think the Sheriff would approve a petition to seal an arrest for battery (garden hose water) subsequent to which the D.A. rejected the charges and no charges were filed? If the Sheriff rejected a petition to seal and destroy arrest records, the law quoted below requires "factual innocence" be found by the court. How do these petitions usually go? If the D.A. never filed charges, were any facts ever established? Sounds like evidence would have to be presented to the court and there is and never was any evidence and the battery I was accused never happened. I want to file a petition to seal arrest records but I'm afraid of a furtherance of the corruption that generated this arrest originally. What should I look out for in this petition process? Here is the law:

"A finding of factual innocence and an order for the sealing and destruction of records pursuant to this section shall not be made unless the court finds that no reasonable cause exists to believe that the arrestee committed the offense or which the arrest was made. In any court hearing to determine the factual innocence of a party, the initial burden of proof shall rest with the petitioner to show that no reasonable cause exists to believe that the arrestee committed the offense for which the arrest was made."

Thanks.

 

[CdwJava]

Carl, do you think the Sheriff would approve a petition to seal an arrest for battery (garden hose water) subsequent to which the D.A. rejected the charges and no charges were filed?

I have no idea ... if there was any reason to believe the act occurred (you sprayed someone) then I doubt they will expunge the record. I am unfamiliar with the success rate of these petitions, but absent a court order I imagine that they are rarely successful. And since they are not generally considered a public record, there is little chance that it might be revealed to anyone outside law enforcement.

I doubt you have anything to lose by making the petition, though.

- Carl

 

[Johnmelissa]

Seal Arrest Record

I guess that's the fine point. There is no evidence. The videotape of the whole incident has been suppressed by the neighbor/cop. He has video of the incident but denies it because of what it shows. If he were telling the truth he would have showed his tape long ago. Other than that, it's a they said, we said. 3 family members for each side. My mug shot will show me as having been sprayed. And I don't think they let any history in, but I have documentation and SUSTAINED complaints covering 8 years of very bad acts by the neighbor/cop. I volunteered eagerly to every entity for a polygraph test when it happened. What happened was the neighbor/cop sprayed me and I sprayed in response as I moved up into my garage. The neighbor/cop, as usual, then did his big act to set me up (I think his corruption/conspiracy is, by far, more morally heinous than exchanging water spray). I still don't understand how the cops didn't even knock on his door and interview him while his family was out front with them. I digress. They said I sprayed the son. They lied. I didn't spray him and didn't intend to. I exchanged spray with the neighbor/cop. What I was arrested for, in so far as I understand the police report, never happened. What is evidence and what is a GOOD reason to believe an act occurred? Here's a little P.S. logic. The Lt. said I "refused" to have the neighbor/cop arrested in his report. By that statement, he UNDERSTANDS and KNOWS that I could have had the neighbor/cop arrested. For what, Lt? Water battery, of course. He obviously BELIEVES that, had I not "refused" to have the neighbor/cop arrested, he would have been arrested for battery. The fact was I didn't know it was illegal to spray someone and I was in shock because a cop was spraying me and then I was arrested and the whole surreal scene was incomprehensible. I digress, again. There's is evidence of a police scam but there is no evidence that I did what they charged. There was evidence of water everywhere because the neighbor/cop and I sprayed each other.

Sorry. Can you read all that?

Thanks.

 

[CdwJava]

What happened was the neighbor/cop sprayed me and I sprayed in response as I moved up into my garage.

Which means that you were not "factually innocent". Commiting battery - even if in self defense - is still battery.

Like I said, you can request it be destroyed, but I would not count on it.

Sorry. Can you read all that?

I think I got it. But, the lack of evidence to support a prosecution aside, that is not necessarily compelling enough to force law enforcement to destroy a record.

Law enforcement is reluctant to destroy their records before they are able to do so safely within statute. Sorry, but the Sheriff is not likely to expunge your arrest record from their files. They might, but I doubt it.

- Carl

 

[Johnmelissa]

Carl, about 2 years ago, after we sued the neighbor/cop for assault, harassment, etc., the court issued a 12 point settlement agreement as a Court Order, Stipulation for Entry of Judgement. This agreement was subject to arbitration if either party violated it. The neighbor/cop violated many of the points and we submitted for arbitration at our great cost. The arbitrator decided that the neighbor/cop had violated the point in the agreement regarding shinning floodlights on our property and house, 24/7. The arbitrator, who is a retired judge, awarded us that the floodlights be removed or operated so that NO light fell on our property. After continuing to shine the floodlights on our property for 3 weeks AFTER the arbitrator/retired judge's decision, the neighbor/cop turned them off. I am going to file a complaint with his Sheriff and contracted police department to inform them that he has DELIBERATELY been harassing us with floodlights in retaliation for our prior SUSTAINED complaints against him, that he violated a court settlement agreement and that he persisted for 3 weeks in further violating an arbitrator/retired judge's award to remove the lights. To what degree do you think that complaint and the violations mentioned will be considered and/or accepted/sustained by either or both of his employing agencies?

Thanks,

John

 

[CdwJava]

After continuing to shine the floodlights on our property for 3 weeks AFTER the arbitrator/retired judge's decision, the neighbor/cop turned them off. I am going to file a complaint with his Sheriff and contracted police department to inform them that he has DELIBERATELY been harassing us with floodlights in retaliation for our prior SUSTAINED complaints against him, that he violated a court settlement agreement and that he persisted for 3 weeks in further violating an arbitrator/retired judge's award to remove the lights. To what degree do you think that complaint and the violations mentioned will be considered and/or accepted/sustained by either or both of his employing agencies?

That's hard to say as I do not know the policies of the agency involved.

The key to any internal complaint is establishing a nexus between the off duty conduct and the officer's employment. Failing to establish such a nexus prevents the employer from taking any action against the officer.

I could make an argument that there IS a nexus ... but, being a former union rep. (local Police/Fire association president) I can also craft an argument refuting such a nexus.

Even if there is no doubt that he is flaunting the arbitrator's order, it may be difficult to establish a nexus to his employment with the agency. And even if they can establish the nexus, an arbitrator's recommendation is not always binding until that finding is endorsed by the court. It may well be that you will have to get the court to find that the neighbor is or was out of compliance. However, if the neighbor has belatedly complied, a court may be reluctant to declare him in violation of the order.

The bottom line is that there are good arguments for and against the nexus issue, and that absent a court endorsement of the arbitrator's findings, there may not be a great case for discipline on THAT account even if a nexus could be established.

Sorry. I just don't have the answer for you. But, you have nothing to lose by making the complaint.


- Carl

 

[Johnmelissa]

Good. Thanks. Aside from the sustaining of a complaint, what does an agency and/or a supervisor think about an "sworn" employee that can't seem to fully comply with and spends so much time in court and arbitration - an employee that has so much trouble with the law and his neighbor? What would you think of one of your employees that is surrounded by so much controversy, if you can't come down on the legalities?