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http://ancgpac.com/2009-0403.php
The recent million-dollar-plus
verdict against the city of Glendale and two of its
police officers has generated quite a bit of discussion
of late (“Group seeks to review man’s jailing,” March 26). This
issue arose from a
civil rights lawsuit brought by an innocent [Armenian]
man who was wrongfully accused of murder and who languished in
one of Los Angeles’ most violent and notorious jails for eight
months.
As has been reported in the Glendale News-Press, after
all the parties had their day in court, a federal jury found the
Glendale Police Department and the individual
Glendale
police officers’
conduct so egregious that they awarded the beleaguered young man
roughly $1.16 million in damages, in addition to $150,000 in
punitive damages from the individual officers.
Despite a fair and lengthy trial, Councilmen Frank
Quintero and Dave Weaver have continued to profess the police
officers’ innocence. Perhaps blinded by their own interests or
biases, or simply engaging in political pandering, these
misguided gentlemen have decided to personally reject the
court’s verdict at the expense of their wrongfully incarcerated
and traumatized constituent.
Quintero and Weaver need to be reminded that the judicial
process is an integral part of our democratic system of checks
and balances. Here, a federal jury received the city’s evidence
and heard their arguments, issued its verdict, which the judge
affirmed, making only an adjustment in the amount of damages.
This is the only opinion that now counts.
At this point, Quintero’s and Weaver’s self-serving
opinions about the validity of the case don’t matter and only
serve to exacerbate a bad situation. The rightful authority to
adjudicate justice, a
judge and jury,
spent considerable time examining the evidence and issued their
decision. For some, this may be a bitter pill to swallow, but
evidently our two council members need to be reminded that this
is how the
judicial system works in democracies.
In addition to the suffering of the original murder
victim and his family, we now have the suffering of a man
wrongly accused of the crime, not to mention a murderer at large
in our community. But the damage our city incurred extends
further beyond each of the victims or the city’s financial loss.
The fact is that this incident marks yet one more fissure in the
fragile social contract between Glendale citizens and their city
government.
If this situation lingers further, it will erode the
trust and confidence in our police department and other city
institutions. In addition, this incident can tarnish the entire
police force and sully the reputation of police officers who
otherwise perform their difficult duties capably, professionally
and with distinction.
What is overdue is an immediate, independent, transparent
and comprehensive investigation that closely examines the many
facets of this case and addresses several issues and questions.
First, what exactly did the offending officers do or fail
to do that the jury found so abrogated their sworn duty to the
victim? Since the jury found the officers’ offenses warranted
punitive damages
personally against the officers, the public deserves to know
what transpired and whether the problem was an individual or
systemic one.
Moreover, to engender and restore trust and confidence,
the city must disclose the present status of the two officers
and whether steps have been taken to ensure accountability
individually and within the chain of command.
Second, what went wrong in our
own city
management and, specifically, in the city attorney’s
office in handling this case? Since Glendalians will be footing
the $1 million-plus bill, not to mention the cost and manpower
expended to pursue this case, we deserve to know whether
city management, the city attorney’s office or even the
individual attorney who handled the case acted prudently and
competently. Were there any conflicts of interests with the
attorney assigned to the case or the city attorney’s office such
that the case should have been sent to outside counsel for
handling?
Our public
servants are an extension of the people of this great
city. In this case, a jury of our peers heard the evidence and
concluded that our
public servants
and institutions failed in carrying out their duties on behalf
of the citizens of Glendale.
Our police chief, city manager, city attorney and City
Council need to step forward and demonstrate real leadership.
Only by taking concrete steps can the city leadership
preserve or restore their credibility with those who they have
been entrusted to represent. We owe it to our citizens and to
all our courageous and committed police officers to do the right
thing.
The city of Glendale is being judged by both the actions
that led to the jury verdict and the subsequent response.
It is our leadership’s actions during such a crisis that
will reveal their true character.
An immediate public accounting for this unacceptable
failure is the unavoidable duty of our city’s leadership.
They can no longer shirk their duties. The public needs
answers.
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