bendmz
10-06-2007, 09:29 PM
San Antonio suspends 4 officers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10/06/2007
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendlySAN ANTONIO - Four police officers have been suspended without pay over an incident in which several men and women said they were wrongfully searched during a police raid of a nightclub.Women who were subjected to the searches claimed the police inspected their breasts and buttocks.
Two patrol sergeants, Marc Randle and Roy Miller, were suspended for 45 days, while two female officers with the department's Tactical Response Unit, Yvette Coz and Diane Tritley, each received a 10-day suspension.
The suspensions are an "acknowledgment of the fact that innocent victims' rights were trampled upon," said Janice Maloney, an attorney who filed a federal lawsuit that claims the officers violated the group's civil rights and searched them without probable cause.
Chief William McManus declined to comment, citing the ongoing lawsuit.
But City Attorney Michael Bernard said the suspensions don't justify the civil suit. Rather, the officers were suspended for breaching the department's policies.
"The police chief obviously thought (the officers) violated some process of the office," Bernard said. "That does not mean the chief feels they violated anybody's civil rights."
Bernard's office wouldn't detail the officers' alleged infractions because of the ongoing lawsuit. Teddy Stewart, president of the police union, said he didn't believe the officers did anything wrong.
He said the officers were appealing their suspensions.
"Losing 45 days of pay is a hardship for anyone," he said.
At last weekend's annual police union picnic, officers raffled two shotguns to raise several thousand dollars to help offset the sergeants' loss of pay.
Stewart said he believed their punishment was greater because of the publicity generated by the case, adding, "that concerns me greatly."
The civil lawsuit claims that during the raid, a general search was conducted of all the bar's patrons. Then, the female officers ordered some women into the restroom one at a time, where the officers donned gloves and "systematically strip-search(ed)" each woman, the suit said.
Two men also were searched after they gave their consent.
The officers did not arrest any of the plaintiffs or find any drugs or weapons on them, according to the lawsuit.
The incident, combined with another controversial police search of a college student, prompted McManus to clarify the department's strip-search policy, including what constitutes such a search and when it can be conducted.
©Laredo Morning Times 2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10/06/2007
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendlySAN ANTONIO - Four police officers have been suspended without pay over an incident in which several men and women said they were wrongfully searched during a police raid of a nightclub.Women who were subjected to the searches claimed the police inspected their breasts and buttocks.
Two patrol sergeants, Marc Randle and Roy Miller, were suspended for 45 days, while two female officers with the department's Tactical Response Unit, Yvette Coz and Diane Tritley, each received a 10-day suspension.
The suspensions are an "acknowledgment of the fact that innocent victims' rights were trampled upon," said Janice Maloney, an attorney who filed a federal lawsuit that claims the officers violated the group's civil rights and searched them without probable cause.
Chief William McManus declined to comment, citing the ongoing lawsuit.
But City Attorney Michael Bernard said the suspensions don't justify the civil suit. Rather, the officers were suspended for breaching the department's policies.
"The police chief obviously thought (the officers) violated some process of the office," Bernard said. "That does not mean the chief feels they violated anybody's civil rights."
Bernard's office wouldn't detail the officers' alleged infractions because of the ongoing lawsuit. Teddy Stewart, president of the police union, said he didn't believe the officers did anything wrong.
He said the officers were appealing their suspensions.
"Losing 45 days of pay is a hardship for anyone," he said.
At last weekend's annual police union picnic, officers raffled two shotguns to raise several thousand dollars to help offset the sergeants' loss of pay.
Stewart said he believed their punishment was greater because of the publicity generated by the case, adding, "that concerns me greatly."
The civil lawsuit claims that during the raid, a general search was conducted of all the bar's patrons. Then, the female officers ordered some women into the restroom one at a time, where the officers donned gloves and "systematically strip-search(ed)" each woman, the suit said.
Two men also were searched after they gave their consent.
The officers did not arrest any of the plaintiffs or find any drugs or weapons on them, according to the lawsuit.
The incident, combined with another controversial police search of a college student, prompted McManus to clarify the department's strip-search policy, including what constitutes such a search and when it can be conducted.
©Laredo Morning Times 2007