NEWS > 09 February 2006

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San Francisco Chronicle - CA,
09 February 2006

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SAN FRANCISCO - Police neglect

In a case that could affect the way the San Francisco Police Department handles domestic violence calls, the Police Commission is investigating two members of the department for failing to follow procedures in responding to a rape call.

The Office of Citizen Complaints has charged Sgt. Ricardo Galande and Officer Jerry King with neglect of duty for allegedly failing to conduct a proper investigation of a rape and domestic abuse case in 2005. The commission assigned individual commissioners to investigate the allegations during its weekly meeting in City Hall on Wednesday.

"Our agency is looking at this as a very serious issue," Office of Citizen Complaints director Kevin Allen said. "It seems there's a lot of misunderstanding about procedures that need to be followed."

Although the procedures are outlined in the police field training manual, Allen says the department needs to re-educate its officers on the issue. "The department could benefit from fresh training in the area of domestic violence," he said.

His agency, which investigates complaints against police officers, levied on Galande an additional charge of failing to properly supervise a subordinate.

According to the complaints, Galande responded to a report of rape on Jan. 28, 2005. The victim called the police and said her ex-husband had raped her in her house and kept her against her will overnight.

King arrived at the woman's house before Galande and detained the suspect. But the woman refused to cooperate with the police, and the suspect was not charged.

The complaint against Galande said he failed to explore additional avenues that might have led to evidence to warrant a felony arrest of the suspect.

Galande had been informed before arriving at the house that the suspect had a previous "felony contact," the complaint said. But Galande didn't do a background check that would have revealed that the suspect had been arrested for threatening the life of the victim in 1993, when they were still married. The suspect also was charged with false imprisonment and domestic violence and abuse in that incident.

The officers also neglected to separate the victim from the suspect in the 2005 incident in order to obtain an independent statement from the ex-wife, according to the complaints. In addition, they failed to interview potential witnesses who might have corroborated the woman's initial claim of rape, including the woman's two children, who were asleep in the house during the incident.

Steve Johnson, a representative of the Police Officers Association, said the charges were still under review.

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Article sourced from

San Francisco Chronicle - CA,09 February 2006

SAN FRANCISCO - Police neglect

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San Francisco Chronicle - CA,
09 February 2006