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| NEWS > 25 July 2011 |
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Police departments in Iraq are
That's how many police officers are working the streets of Qaim. You cannot see a blue uniform or a white Nissan pickup with red and blue lights on the roof.
But you will. Soon.
About 200 Iraqi men have completed training at two police academies and are in the process of returning to Qaim to start up a new police force. The governor of Anbar province recently appointed a new police chief for the town. There's a newly renovated, albeit empty, police station and a local populace desperately in need of security.
"I'd love for people to see this place in six months... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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The Detroit News
25 July 2011
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Detroit Police Department, MI
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USA: Gang cop's actions cost Detroit $677,000
A Detroit Police Gang Squad officer allegedly caught on videotape beating a suburban college student has been sued eight times and cost taxpayers more than $677,000, according to court records.
That figure could rise because the college student has sued Officer Nevin Hughes in federal court, alleging the officer violated his civil rights during the incident outside a Detroit gas station in 2009.
The six-figure settlements are emerging as the department's Internal Affairs unit concludes a probe of Hughes' conduct — an investigation launched after The Detroit News posted surveillance camera footage of the unprovoked attack. Hughes is expected to face disciplinary charges that could range from an unpaid suspension to being fired, police spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens said.
In recent years, Hughes has been sued over a beating during the Downtown Hoedown and accused of illegal searches and seizures, falsifying search warrants and assaulting men at gas stations.
The lawsuits and payouts raise questions about how Hughes has managed to stay on the gang and drug squads, despite a pattern of alleged misconduct in incidents dating back 15 years and despite federal oversight governing use of force by police personnel.
"It raises a lot of concerns," said Gary Brown, the City Council president pro tem and a former deputy police chief who once headed the gang squad. "The city is broke, and we're paying out millions."
Between July 2006 and June 2009, the city spent $19.1 million settling police misconduct cases.
Hughes, 46, did not return a phone message seeking comment. Marty Bandemer, head of the Detroit Police Officers Association, also did not return a call seeking comment.
Police Chief Ralph Godbee put Hughes on restricted duty last month, removed him from the gang squad and took away his gun after The Detroit News posted video of the gas station incident.
It is unclear what, if any, prior disciplinary action has been taken against Hughes.
"In the past, Officer Hughes has not been found guilty of criminal or departmental charges that would have warranted dismissal," Stephens said.
She would not elaborate on Hughes' work history or the prior lawsuits. Five times, the city settled rather than continue to fight the cases in courts.
"Those incidents occurred during a previous administration," Stephens said. "We've got to see what we're going to do about it to make sure this doesn't happen again. We can't undo what's been done."
'I felt like a rag doll'
Lawyer Jonathan Marko, who is representing the college student, faults the department for failing to correct Hughes' conduct. Marko's client, DeJuan Hodges-Lamar, a 22-year-old from Harrison Township, alleges he was beaten by Hughes during an attack outside a Detroit gas station in November 2009.
Hodges-Lamar said he did nothing to prompt the beating. Hughes issued two citations, one for lack of insurance and one for failing to wear a seat belt, but both were dismissed, according to the lawsuit.
"The inescapable conclusion is that Officer Hughes' superiors at the Detroit Police Department knew of his violent propensities and chose to do nothing. This man's violent history is shocking," said Marko, who works at the Southfield law firm of Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Giroux. "If the Detroit Police Department acted sooner, the vicious assault in this case on an innocent young man minding his own business and just trying to get gas could have been prevented."
Hodges-Lamar said he is scarred by the incident.
"He threw me that way, he threw me this way, he slammed my head into the squad car," Hodges-Lamar said last week while revisiting the scene of the incident. "Oh man, I felt like a rag doll, like a little kid. Powerless."
He accused Hughes of walking up to his sport utility vehicle and without provocation, reaching through the driver's side window and snatching his keys. Hodges-Lamar said his head hit the pavement when Hughes pushed him before the officer kicked him and put him in a choke hold, according to the lawsuit.
"I want him to at least recognize that what he did was wrong, that you can't do that to an innocent person," Hodges-Lamar said. "What does he do to guilty people who are actually doing something wrong?"
Lawyers: Amount alarming
Lawyers who specialize in police abuses cases said the number of lawsuits and settlements is alarming.
"Over half a million dollars, that's a lot of money. That could pay for a lot of firemen and a lot of bus drivers," said Southfield lawyer Lauri Ellias, who won a $550,000 settlement in 2000 after suing Hughes, the city and four other officers.
Ellias sued Hughes in federal court in Detroit in 1996 after she said officers raided a family's home looking for information about a neighborhood crime. The officers stormed in without search or arrest warrants, held the family at gunpoint and took a teenage son to a police precinct for questioning, Ellias said.
"The city has an obligation to its citizens to make sure this officer can handle himself appropriately," Ellias said. "Maybe they need to put him at a desk or swap him out to somewhere else. If he's just a renegade hot dog, maybe they need to get rid of him."
Hughes, a 24-year Detroit Police veteran, specializes in narcotics and gang investigations and competed on the department's tug-of-war team in the late 1990s.
In a 2000 federal lawsuit, Hughes and other officers were accused of assaulting Ohio resident Richard Rohloff during that year's Downtown Hoedown. Rohloff, who was carrying a Confederate flag, alleged officers yelled racial comments before grabbing, striking and kicking him and three others.
According to the lawsuit, the officers told Rohloff "they were going to pay him back for the years of racism that were occurring to the blacks."
The city paid $17,500 to settle the case in October 2002.
Certain police assignments put officers in situations that could draw disproportionate numbers of citizen complaints and lawsuits, Brown said.
But the department does a poor job of analyzing that data and sharing it with commanding officers, the council member added.
"We have to recognize we have a problem
," Brown said. "The Law Department should be alerting the chief that there's a problem. Supervisors must do a better job of identifying, discussing and tracking these types of lawsuits."
Worse cases cited
The money paid by the city in cases filed against Hughes pale in comparison to the millions spent in connection with one of the most notorious and controversial police officers in recent memory.
Officer Eugene Brown, during his career, shot nine people, three of whom died. By early 2004, the city had spent almost $8 million in lawsuits stemming from his actions.
Brown was cleared in each case of wrongdoing in internal police investigations.
The allegations against Hughes echo complaints that led to major revisions of the Police Department's policies in 2003 on use of force, arrest and detention of witnesses, training and officer discipline.
8 years of reform efforts
Despite recent improvements, federal reform efforts have dragged on for eight years.
The city initially was ordered to implement a risk management database by 2005 to identify problem police officers. Earlier this month, Robert Warshaw, the federal monitor overseeing police reforms, credited the department with making progress toward creating the database.
Warshaw said the department is complying with a mandate to meet with the city Law Department each quarter to talk about how the outcomes of civil lawsuits alleging officer misconduct can be used to train officers.
Gary Brown, the council member, said while the money paid out to settle lawsuits against Hughes is high, the officer is not unique.
"He's not the worst," Brown said. "There are worse."
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