![]() Umenhofer said his complaints were ignored, so he shared his concerns with city officials, who sent his complaint back to police leadership. Umenhofer reported to supervisors an array of misconduct, including that a cop had sex in an undercover car in a parking lot where kids were present and that a SWAT team member bragged that he’d gotten away with murder after he killed an unarmed 15-year-old. However, the charges against her were later dropped, and Covington was ultimately convicted and sentenced to five years probation. Meanwhile, Covington followed through with his plan and had meth planted in his ex-wife’s car. The chief also tried to have Sims’ certification revoked but was overturned by the state board. The district attorney eventually dismissed the charges in the interest of justice. The police chief referred Sims for criminal charges, and he was indicted by a grand jury. Sims told the chief, whom he said did nothing, so Sims copied recordings of Covington and the confidential informant discussing the plan and gave them to the Texas Rangers.Ĭovington then initiated a series of IA investigations against Sims, who was later fired for violating the department’s computer-use policy. Jeff Covington intended to plant drugs in Covington’s ex-wife’s car so she would be arrested and he would gain leverage in their child custody dispute. Sims was tipped off by a confidential informant that Sgt. Speaking out against police misconduct brings trouble for officers.USA TODAY spent more than a year unearthing the cases from thousands of documents from police and sheriff’s departments, prosecutors, oversight groups and labor regulators around the country, including federal files provided by confidential sources. Unless otherwise indicated, the accused officers and/or department leaders have denied wrongdoing. The year column indicates when the purported wrongdoing happened. In our searchable database, the bold title for each entry and the sortable categories describe the nature of the allegation they do not indicate whether the misconduct was proven to have occurred. After speaking out, all of them were forced out of their departments and branded traitors by fellow officers. In Louisiana, a state trooper refused to participate in what he says was a cover-up in the case of Ronald Greene, who died in state custody after being beaten and stunned with a Taser. In Texas, an officer reported a sergeant who had planted drugs in his ex-wife’s car. In Colorado, an internal affairs investigator leaked a video of an officer punching a handcuffed man in a wheelchair in the head. ![]() ![]() From a tiny department in the mountains of Idaho to the New York Police Department, USA TODAY found more than 300 cases of officers who bucked law enforcement’s blue wall of silence by reporting or testifying against co-workers accused of misconduct over the past decade.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |