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| NEWS > 16 December 2007 |
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EDITORIAL: Investigating cops
Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko is proposing to put in place an independent investigation agency, composed of individuals who aren't members of any police service, that would look into serious allegations of corruption or criminal wrongdoing by police officers in Alberta. It sounds good. But here's the first potential problem: how many allegations of "systemic corruption" are there against cops in this province?
We know of one for sure: two city cops have been charged with accepting bribes from Affiliated Computer Systems (ACS), the American company that has Edmonton's photo-radar... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Belleville News Democrat - IL,
16 December 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Illinois State Police, USA
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Accident probe is under scruti
Can the Illinois State Police properly investigate itself?
That continues to be a hot subject, based on e-mails and phone calls to the News-Democrat since the Nov. 23 accident on Interstate 64 involving a state trooper that killed two teenage Collinsville sisters and injured a pregnant Fayetteville woman.
It's a question fueled by factors that include:
• Trooper Matt Mitchell's decision to shut off the video camera in his car just before the crash occurred.
• State police investigators' failure so far to interview Mitchell about this decision.
• The state police's refusal to release any data from the "black box" in Mitchell's car, including the speed at which he struck the car containing Jessica Uhl, 18, and her sister Kelli, 13, who died instantly.
Experts on police work interviewed for this story predict the state police will be motivated to do an investigation with the highest standards.
"If they don't, they will lose their reputation and, maybe, their ability to do that," said W. Mark Dale, director of the Northeast Regional Forensic Institute, at the University of Albany, in Albany, N.Y.
Larry Trent, the Illinois State Police director, asserted during a Nov. 30 press conference that his agency could investigate itself without bias.
"Most large agencies conduct their internal investigations themselves," Trent said. "I'm very proud of the way our organization has policed itself."
The results of the investigation will be turned over to St. Clair County State's Attorney Robert Haida, who will decide whether criminal charges are warranted. The Missouri Highway Patrol also might be asked to review the probe, Trent said.
David Klinger, a professor of criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a former Los Angeles police officer, said the state police have the skills and credibility to investigate themselves impartially. That's because car crash investigations are the state police's "bread and butter."
"My attitude about things like this is if they demonstrate they are not competent, then yank them out of there," Klinger said. "But the mere fact you're investigating yourself, I think, it's a red herring to suggest that by definition there (could be) a problem."
Big police departments such as the state police can be counted on to perform a fair and robust inquiry because their investigators "take pride in this. They're going to do the right thing," Klinger said.
Shortly before noon Nov. 23, Mitchell was racing eastbound on I-64 in response to an earlier injury accident on Illinois 4 in Mascoutah. As Mitchell's 2006 Impala sped in the highway's left lane to the accident site, a small white vehicle suddenly darted in front of Mitchell's car, forcing him to cross the highway median, according to an state police report.
Mitchell's cruiser slammed into the left side of the Uhls' 2003 Mazda 6 sedan. The right side of the Mazda then hit the left side of a small SUV driven by Kelly Marler of Fayetteville and containing his pregnant wife, Christine, and their two young children. Christine Marler, who is due to deliver this Friday, suffered a severe leg injury.
Mitchell was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where he remains hospitalized after undergoing four surgeries on his legs.
Master Sgt. Brian Ley, a state police spokesman, said Thursday he did not know whether investigators have yet interviewed Mitchell, who is conscious.
"I'm sure he's still in tremendous pain with the four surgeries," Ley said. "They have to be cognizant of the medication he's on and things like that."
John Phillips, executive director of PursuitWatch, which promotes safer police driving, said the state police must show whenever possible that their investigation is as transparent as possible.
"They need to be willing to open up when asked," Phillips said. "They need to say, 'Absolutley, here's what we know.'"
Marc Harrold, a University of Mississippi School of Law professor and expert on police ethics, said anyone skeptical about the state police's investigation should at least wait until the initial results come back to see whether anything appears lacking.
"It's a trust and verify situation," Harrold said. "You should trust them to do their job ... and then verify."
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