In a strongly worded letter from his attorney, former HPD Officer Rashim Campbell is demanding re-instatement to the police force.
In the letter, Attorney Sal Bonnano claims that Lt. Robert Ford's investigation when he was a Sergeant in Internal Affairs Division was "biased, unfair and slanted investigation" against Campbell.
The remainder of the letter is also strongly worded and lays out other accusations as well as demanding an independent investigation by an outside agency such as the Connecticut State Police. The letter is posted below.
HPD Rashim Campbell Letter
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42 comments:
Hey Daryl K. you are really running a police department we can all be proud of. What a disgrace to all your uniformed officers. Here's the question, do you leave now on your own accord; do you wait for the mayor to pressure you to leave, or do you and Lester get in a car and do the old crash 'em up derby and claim an injury?
Listen, your pension is like 125K a year, why are you still here? You are embarassing yourself and your name. Everything is crumbling down on you. Congrats.
ps. I would like 15 minutes to talk to the outside investigator. please, please, please...
Almost no one wants Roberts as Chief and I don't blame them. My fear is what if the Mayor replaces him with Lester McCrash? Yikes!
Let's slow down and let this play out and see where the facts go. Also, give the Mayor some credit, he may have been slow to react on this, but things look like they are starting to move.
Do you really think the Mayor will even look to the Chief's complex for an "acting" Chief if it even came to that? I doubt it. I can think of a couple names that have their heads screwed on right and aren't into the games that would make excellent choices.
Lets wait and see where everything goes, but McKoy? Give Pedro some credit.
McKoy can't even stop and pay his tolls at a toll booth or report his accidents, do you think Mayor Segarra would entrust him with HPD? I wouldn't even let him manage the school crossing guards, oh wait, I think he already does.
Lets not forget that Campbell was fired from an administrative investigation that was completed by Sgt. Dixon Vega. All the evidence, statements from Campbell, and Lee that were not included in the criminal case were used in the administrative case which resulted in Campbell's termination.
Three Captains reviewed the administrative case by Sgt. Vega, the booking video, listened to the interviews and sustained the excessive force allegations and fact that Rashim Campbell lied in his report and IA interview.
Brookman, if you want to know the truth behind Rashim Campbell losing his job, FOI the administrative report by Sgt. Vega and Administrative hearing report by the Captains.
Hurray! He won his criminal case but the investigation behind his criminal case played no factor in his administrative case which resulted in his termination.
Administrative case by Sgt. Vega? Lets see, why isn't Sgt. Vega in Internal Affairs anymore? Oh wait I remember; he got disgraced and booted when he got into trouble when he pulled an attempted cover-up during the Thody incident. Soooo, if you are going to FOI Sgt. Vega's administrative Campbell report, you should probably FOI Vega's cover-up discipline too.
Yes, DKR assigned Sgt Vega into Internal Affairs only to have that choice blow up in his face too. Good move Daryl. I bet you never informed the mayor about that cover-up.
But you make a good point. Ah yes the Administrative hearing.... Who were the Captains on that hearing? And where are they now? Hint: 2 of the 3 captains are deputy chiefs, coincidently promoted after they followed DKR's wishes in this hearing. Everybody and I mean everybody knows that the DKR run administrative hearings at HPD are a complete joke. As a hearing officer, the captain better do exactly what DKR wants or suffer the consequences; just ask Joe Buyak.
How can that administration discipline anyone right now? It certainly feels like all previous discipline is now tainted, or at the very least suspect. Hell, you can do whatever you want right now and not get in trouble, DKR has been exposed, witch hunts were the norm, and there is no way anyone trusts any sort of discipline findings now. The Department Advocate knows about the frauds that have come out of this administration, and he won’t pursue any matter until there is a change. The discipline process is tainted and hamstrung. Go nuts Officers, there is no discipline coming for a long time....
Hey Guys,
Chief Roberts was a real cop for many years. he knocked down doors, ran a lot of guys down and usually conducted himself in a good way.
Do any of you guys want to go tot he mat with Mr. Campbell. Just that clip of him onthe news makes him look like a jackass.
If now Lt. Ford gets in hot water then it is on him and his terrible defeat in court but lets not make Campbell a saint.
Anonymous at 12:47.... wow that's the biggest pile of spin I've ever heard. Did Campbell get to pick one CPT for his joke of a department hearing? NOPE. See, anytime the Chief is presenting weak evidence or over disciplining an officer the first thing he does is remove that officers choice of selecting a CPT, or in some cases outright uses his 3 deputy Chiefs (see Secore case). He manipulates the outcome of the process to suit his wishes. There by making the entire HPD discipline process worthless.
By the way, an "administrative hearing" is a bunch of contrived HPD BS. The state labor board and courts will not give too craps about in-house generated documents when an independent jury found no wrong doing. (see Murtha case). You know as well as I do anyone can write a report to look like anything they want through clever wording, selective information, or outright lies (see LT Ford).
The problem is not disciplining officers. The problem is there's no standard of consistency or fairness. If you play chess with the Chief you're going to get a written warning for driving your cruiser off a brick wall. If you're unknown to him you might actually get a fair discipline process. If he doesn't like you it's good bye.
Look at how Roberts is protecting McCrash right now and other members of his close circle. Almost every single major problem HPD is having stems from the unequal treatment of HPD officers by Chief Roberts. If the Chief was not so blinded by his illusion of self importance and power and disciplined everyone equally and fairly these rabbit holes he keeps digging deeper would never have started.
Bottom line, even if the Chief had an iron glad case against terminating an officer his proven history of favoritism and manipulation of investigations put great doubt in the public's trust. It's akin to when a cop is found to have lied during the prosecution of a criminal case and the state attorneys then have to take a look at all the other cases the officer filed and toss them out. The cops career is over.
Personally I think the Chief's public trust is gone and he will be shown the door sometime before elections.
Anonymous at 10:06. You're correct I would not be comfortable with Campbell as my 99. Never was and won't be when he's reinstated (which he will).
He's a clown and maybe should not even be a cop but HPD hired him not me. If they want to get rid of him they need to do it by the book. Even clowns get due process. Robert's having LT Ford lie on his report is not the way to do it. This is the Chief we are talking with integrity issues. An organization simply can't have that.
Hey Anonymous 10:06, the operative word in your opening is "was". DKR was a very good street cop, BUT like many others like him and his command staff, he has gotten "drunk w/power" and all of his inequities are showing themselves in full force. His vindictiveness which he did a pretty good job of concealing before, is now very evident (see Dailey case). He had been mistreating Dailey since he got the chief job (take home car issue)and now that fabricated "failure to supervise" charge is going to blow up in his face. He had been waiting to get back at Dailey since the Marquis administration. DKR harbors a grudge like no other and it's hard to really figure out who's the puppetmaster. For awhile it was looking like J-Ho, the way SS was trailing him like a lil puppy. Lucky for J-Ho he didnt make any sudden stops, he woulda been wearing a "Scotty thong".
HPD is worse than its ever been and until the mayor, Pedro, or whomever puts his/her foot down and conduct a nationwide search for a replacement with "credible" credentials not getting promoted on a curve credentials HPD will continue to spiral downwards to the abyss. Everyday there's something new that is negative, and contrary to what DKR is peddling at the various roll calls, all of this stuff is not "one sided". He has just been outed and is trying to do damage control..too late!
Usually there's at least one positive u can take away from any administration, all of the negatives that have emerged the past couple of mos have blurred whatever positives we might have been able to put in his retirement proclamation from the mayor when he retires. (Who's gonna attend that party?...cue crickets)Oh yeah! there's the truancy thing he,uh...authored. At least Marquis can hang his hat on the fact that he made DKR take off those stupid heel taps.
When is that high-butted idiot gonna take the high road and leave this place. He should save what little self-respect he's got left. He's like a punch drunk boxer that can't accept the fact that he's not the champ anymore. Just one more fight...just one more fight. He's gonna end up like Ali. He already talks like him and he doesn't even have MS. Or does he?
Please, try to keep the comments civil. The points can be valid without being attacks.
Also. I appreciate the information and the details. I hope that when the "outside independent investigator" is actually appointed that people will step up and speak to the investigators. We went through this with the Perez Grand Jury and I know that it is difficult for people working in fear of their careers may have a hard time going on the record for fear of confidentially or retribution.
If and when the investigation starts, specifics can be e-mailed to me and I will be more than willing to provide that information to the investigators. If there is one thing that I learned during the Perez investigation, it was how to protect my sources. That was the reason this blog was started, to add another layer of protection to my sources. Courts have determined that bloggers are actually legitimate journalists and therefore come under the shield laws that protect sources.
Kevin said keep this civil so here's a positive. Thanks for the new M&P service weapons Chief Roberts. Our other ones where getting too old. Umm.... let me see. I guess that's all I got for positive out of his reign as Chief.
One other positive would be if he leaves sooner than later and takes Chief Lester McKoy, aka Chief McCrash, with him.
If Mike Fallon were Chief, none of this would be happening!
Saying DKR is responsible for the new M&P weapons we now carry is as ridiculous as saying Daryl co-authored the neighborhood police plan. What a joke, DKR's only accomplishment, and all he did was sign his name to it. Laughable. Sad.
Daryl wrote the ‘Neighborhood Policing Plan’ like I wrote my mortgage- I signed it like a million times and call it my mortgage, but I couldn't tell you what it says or who really wrote it.
Kevin do not expect such a great response if and when the investigation starts. Its real easy for people to stand up and speak when they can sign it "Anonymous" but when everyone will know where its coming from many will stick their head in the sand.
signed
"Anonymous"
Campbell should not have been on the job to begin with. The department needs to do a better job in the hiring process and pick the best qualified candidates and maybe the department would not be so screwed up!
Why are you so adament about Campbell being a clown and having a heavy hand with prisoners. Has he been in trouble with excessive force since he's been at HPD? Even in this case the prisoner wasn't even at all.Robert threw Campbell under the bus even before the internal investigation began he declared both Lee and Campbell guilty suspended him without pay and said he wanted them both arrested. Fair and balanced...you gotta be kidding!
Speak for yourself. I already put it in writing. You know who I am.
Personally I think the academy has the most onus for HPD's bad hires.
The background process can only show you so much about a candidate. However, the academy instructors have 6 months of hands on interaction to identify "hot-heads".
I've spoken to a few of Officer Brodie's academy class mates and not one of them was surprised he lost his cool and got fired. Why didn't the academy instructors see that?
The Chief of Police ultimately takes the blame for new hires but he needs to have competent academy instructors as well as a non-retaliatory process to eliminate aggressive recruits once identified.
Then again, maybe the academy instructors did identify Brodie as aggressive but also knew what happened to Dan Nolan so they said nothing.
Whatever the reason, the hiring process's best "net" is the academy and they are not weeding these people out like they should be.
Anonymous at 6:20,
The recruitment process is no different than any other department as far as backgrounds go, the selection on the other hand is quite discriminatory. The department and the city want more Hartford residents and minorities patrolling their streets, which is understandable and respectable. However in order to get a lot of the city residents actually hired they bump them up in the ranking system by 10%, which is common knowledge, but they are chosen over more qualified candidates that happen to be white and not Hartford residents. It's the definition of reverse discrimination, it's very real and the people it effects is very much real. I have a feeling we might start seeing some of the candidates effected by this come out of the woodwork as everything else is revealed.
Count me as one against preference for non-white Hartford residents over more qualified candidates.
Fact of Campbell's acquittal should not be in itself sufficient qualification for reinstatement.
A couple of posts ago the query was raised; who runs this operation? Not only can't I keep track of all of the action, I can't even keep track of all the management entities. Glad to have external investigation, I guess, but can't help but wonder if a simplified hierarchy wouldn't be an improvement.
it is easier to blame all your problems on someone else or deny knowldge of them by insluating yourself with layers of command staff members. Deny everything and admit nothing.
Just as DKR about the NABLEO conference and basketball game where a member of HPD suffered a serious knee injury. He lied just like his underling Ford when it came to telling the truth about the facts surrounding the incident to this work related injury. The individual was representing the PD and there was a deal struck that if he gave them comp. time to pratiace then it was mandatory they had to play in the game. Sound like a nexus to a work related function which equals a work related injury. Oh yeah they even went do far as to say not to want to comply with a supebona for records until they got caught with their pants down. All of this just not to pay for a work related injury.
So see it's just not in the discipline arena that these individuals will anything and everything to try and get what they want, that includes, lying, disobeying subpoenas and calling employees liars and going as far as accusing employees of making up false comp. cards just to defend thief non defendable position.
Change can't come soon enough.
Good point, didn't McCrash get caught changing a time-card, not realizing the employee made a copy of the original prior to the forgery? That’s when they got caught with their pants down. The amount of crap is astounding. Every Officer or Command Staff member has been taught over the past 5 years that this is the way to act. That independent investigator sure has their hands full.... Bernier and Ford have a very valid excuse, their actions were at the behest of the chief, that’s the way things are done around here.
I don't know what academy you guys are talking about? The last five classes maybe six was predominately white cops that weren't Hartford residents. The academy staff sucks, the backgrounds division sucks and the Chiefs Complex is the BEST! (I'm a Golden Boy.)
Anonymous at 10:36,
No one ever said what the majority was, only that minority residents (the ones that there were) took the place of more qualified out-of-towners, simply to make some officials happy.
Enlighten me on how the background division and academy division sucks, unless I'm just not reading what was meant to be sarcasm.
Instead of bashing the Chief and calling names, why don't we look at the facts of the case.
The administrative hearing is based on a preponderance of evidence (much lower level than the criminal side's proof beyond a reasonable doubt). You also have to consider that Campbell did not testify at his criminal trial and HAD to testify at the Administraiuve Hearing. I would love to see a transctpit of his testimony and know what he said.
Or for that matter, what the others tesified to. It must have been quite concvincing for him to be terminated.
Hey Anonymous 5/14/11 @ 4:40
Are you F#@*ing kidding me, to say that any hearing is fair at HPD is a joke and when the only one I can remember that was done in a fair and impartial manner the Capt. got passed over for a Chief's spot.
So don't sit there and say that its fair or not biased, the level of proof is the lowest level and when you are looking at terminating someone's livelhood/ carrier just maybe, just maybe you should have all of the facts first.
I would of loved to see what Mr. Campbell's attorney would of done with Rob "the fabricator" Ford if the city and Dept. did not protect him by not allowing him to testify at the hearing.
A straight up joke, and for you to sit there and say that the hearing was fair your kidding yourself.
Just look at where two of the three hearing officers from Campbell's hearing landed as D/C in the Chief's command staff the one Capt. who questioned the evidence ended up in the same spot on the outside looking in.
How's that for a fairness. Don't go breaking your arm and patting yourself or anyone else on the back on second floor for doing a screw job. You might be next and would you want that "level of proof" alliped to your case, it's just like the olde saying goes you can indite a ham sandwich at a grand jury, and get a termination at an HPD heraring.
You don't understand, Campbell's department hearing was a foregone conclusion before the hearing even started. The chief makes his wishes clear before the hearing. It did not matter what was or who testified. The chief wanted him fired. Not all the Captains on that board agreed. The one who didn't think Campbell should be terminated is still a captain; the other two who played ball are deputy chiefs. The admin hearing is a complete fraud. (ps. The captain who didn’t agree- the one who spear headed police corruption at HPD in the 90’s; he can’t wait to talk to the independent investigator)
And when it comes to termination cases, the labor board is going to use a standard on the level with proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Trust me, when weighing the difference between short suspensions or ending a person’s career, the Labor board will adjust their standard of proof based on severity.
Anonymous at 4:40... is that the same administrative process Rob Murtha was terminated with? The same Rob Murtha who's about to win 1.1 million dollars from the city.
Almost every town in CT puts its employees on suspension or desk duty until the criminal charges are resolved. Hartford is one of the few that fires people before due process. As long as they keep doing that they will keep paying and wasting the tax payers money.
Ok, the backgrounds division sucks because I can Google some of applicants names and come up with information that should automatically disqualify them. The academy staff sucks because no one there has a military background and as a matter of FACT, the people running the academy are SOFT. Back in the day the academy was about breaking you down then building you back up. Now its only building recruits up and all we get as new officers are arrogant punks who think they know everything. They are lacking in respect and discipline and lack people skills, so they tend to get reprimanded for excessive use of force.
And I'm not talking about the temporary assigned academy staff either. The two temp guys are hard chargers.
Anonymous @ 6:35,
I was under the impression that the Hartford academy was still para-military, and it was the Meriden and other CT academies that were much 'softer', I take it that isn't the case?
When did you start noticing a change how things were done in the academy?
You Google applicants names? Don't take this the wrong way at all, because I don't know how many people have access to the applicant pool, but it seems to me that someone at HPD could narrow down who it is you are from what you say in a post. That is of course assuming you care.
The slide started many years ago.
It began in free fall when Chief Marquis left after telling Mayor Perez to take a hike about police issues. That caused the jockeying for position to begin
It has continued with lesser quality officers being promoted to high rank--see the entire command staff and that has put the department on a slow slide down the tubes.
It has continued with countless officers afraid to do their jobs properly b/c of an over aggressive IAD. A common example is getting turned in for one thing, getting cleared and then getting disciplined for something else. This breeds a poor work environment and the crooks see that and operate as they want.
Lt Ford needs to find new employment because he has discredited the department and himself with losing the Campbell case. That could have been taken care of with retraining and maybe a written reprimand. Also some instruction on how to shut his own big mouth.
Guys, the job is too important to drag the entire department down. None of the characters running HPD will be there in a few years so keep your head down and ride out the bull**it.
Hey Bill, your not too bright or trying to think too much into what I wrote. Once these cops come out the academy and we meet them and see how crazy they are, we do a Google search on their name and at least three different times it revealed some major problems in their work history. Problems that should have disqualified them from the hiring process. One of them is still on the job and will cost the city millions in the near future.
This blog has blown up at a tremendous rate in light of all that has happened recently. I'd like to commend Mr. Brookman on an extraordinary job with everything he has done and said both on and off this blog for the good of the Capitol City thus far. I look forward to what he will bring to the table in the weeks, months and years to come.
If the day comes, you no doubt have my vote!
Even if the Chief did decide to move on, who's next in line to replace him. It's seems to me that no matter who replaces him HPD OFficers will never be happy. If they promote someone from within, they will find dirt on him/her and it will be just a matter time and the same thing will start to happen all over again.
In the most recent past Chief's in Hartford on lasted 5 years. So you do a nationally search for a Chief, how much time do you give him/her to try and clean up what you perceive as a mess?
When Officers in HPD don't like the person in the top position they will eventually run them out, the what?
We didn't drive out the past Chiefs. Perez drove them out because they had enough self respect not to be micromanaged by him. Roberts is a by product of Perez's administration who lacks self respect and needs to go.
Campbell is an incompetent idiot who socializes with gang members and known felons....its an atrocity that someone like him was even hired to begin with...he got exactly what he deserved and the citizens of Hartford are so much better served without someone with zero moral fiber employed by the police dept....I'm sure that the savings the city will save over the coarse of his career far outweigh what they will spend to make sure that piece of garbage does not regain his job....truth hurts Campbell supporters doesn't it...
Mr.Brookman obviously you're in contact with a lot of people concerning Officer's Campbell and Brodie. Do you personally know these gentlemen ? There are two sides to every coin especially with Brodie. From my experience he's always been respectful and considering his background,over 25 years of military service,numerous awards,two-three tours of combat,senior enlisted,and worked for Homeland Security for eight years. Just about everyone has or had some type of issues in their lives at one time or another. It boggles my mind that people are quick to bash without knowing the person(especially when the one casting the stones is dirty and grimey). I do realize mistakes(bonehead or otherwise)happen. I wonder if Brodie or Campbell were "white" what would have happened? HMMMMMMMMMM Not taking anything away from what the two officers alledgedly have did but why when it comes to "MINORITIES" within HPD the penalties are so severe? What happened to retraining? Just another thought.
Anonymous May 16 @ 9:16pm,
I'd like to understand how you came up with those two possible judgments about myself. Unless you have a different definition of applicant, as you said, than the rest of the world it is referring to PRE-hire or in this case pre-academy. If you are Googling their names after they've graduated from the academy then they are sworn officers, not applicants. If you made sense from the beginning then I would be confident you had a clue what you are talking about, I can see that is not the case. Google the wordClue.
Anonymous at 9:16pm,
What exactly did you find in a google search that is a background DQ? And what name(s) did you search? I'll assume when you don't have an answer to this post that you are totally full of it. This blog doesn't need people like you posting accusatory nonsense. There is more than enough going on at HPD, falsified rumors are not needed.
Fact, Rashim got hired. Is he supercop, no. But its easy to point the finger. it is a combination of things.
Fact, Lt Ford was doing his job, remember, he has a family to feed. If ur ordered to drive lester to get a haircut, you better do it, or else u will be in teleseserve on mid nites.
Fact, Mirtha deserves any money that he gets, he shot at a career criminal who was trying to assault him with a car.
Fact, rashim will be back
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