Wednesday, Hallandale Beach set to name street after ex-Police Chief Magill, who lied & wasted city resources in attempt to frame 2 HBPD officers; cost city $$$ & integrity
J. A Resolution of the City of Hallandale Beach, Authorizing the City Manager to Amend the Street Name for SE 3rd Street to Chief Tom Magill Way/SE 3rd Street and Implement Beautification Enhancements Along this Corridor. (Staff: Director of Public Works, Utilities and Engineering) (See Backup) CAD#014/11 (Staff Report, Supporting Docs)
And when have you ever heard Mayor Joy Cooper publicly speak about this scandal?
Never.
Never, as in NOT once.
Cooper, as presiding officer at Commission meetings, has never allowed the subject of why it happened in the first place to be discussed publicly in the Commission Chambers.
Equally appalling, Cooper has never allowed the subject of why Magill was allowed to remain as the city's police chief to be spoken of, after the scandal became publicly known, and hundreds of thousands of settlement money was paid after two separate Broward juries rejected the city's feeble defense of criminal behavior by their police chief, ruling in favor of the innocent officers less than a half-hour into the trial.
And even then, the city, thru mendacious Magill, seems not to have honored its full obligations to at least one of the two officers it threw under the bus, as even local media has mentioned.
There are plenty of past blog posts here on this subject, just look for Magill, but for those of you who want the short-hand version of what happened here, the following Sun-Sentinel articles are the ones that first brought it to the attention of the taxpayers of this city in a way that left no room for misunderstanding.
No, it's crystal clear.
And yet they want to honor this man whose utter mendacity allowed him him to have full-rein to try to railroad two innocent Americans, have them prosecuted and imprisoned for something they DIDN'T DO, like this part of Broward County was some sort of Third World Banana Republic?
Yes.
Yes, that's exactly what Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew intend on doing.
Does that qualify as news?
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Two Hallandale Officers Fired Over Taser Use
December 3, 2005
By Chris Young Staff Writer and News researchers Barbara Hijek and Bill Lucey contributed to this story.
HALLANDALE BEACH — Two city police officers were fired Friday after being accused of choking and using a Taser on a man in a holding cell more than 10 times in less than five minutes.The Broward County State Attorney's Office charged Officer Talous Cirilo with three counts of misdemeanor battery, and Officer Mary Hagopian with one count of misdemeanor battery. Hagopian was a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo was employed for three or four years, said Police Chief Tom Magill. Their arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 21."I can't have that in this organization," said City Manager Mike Good, who authorized the firings. "I won't tolerate it."Their lawyer on Friday said the decision to fire Cirilo and Hagopian was "bogus.""No way did the city do a thorough investigation," said Barbara Duffy, general council for the Broward County Police Benevolent Association who represented Cirilo and Hagopian. "I'm not aware of any other state attorneys' offices that charge cops for doing their jobs."The officers have 15 days to challenge the firings.The dismissals come at a time when police use of Tasers faces mounting criticism. Critics contend that the stun guns are sometimes misused and that the unregulated weapons may be unsafe. The manufacturer, Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz., contends the devices are safe.On the morning of April 1, police noticed two men fighting in the back seat of a car on Federal Highway and pulled over the driver, officials said. Cirilo arrested Michael Brack, 23, for domestic violence for the alleged fight with his brother. Brack struggled with officers at the scene, and at some point Cirilo shoved a Taser against Brack's body three times and activated the electricity, police said.After Brack was arrested and placed in a holding cell, Cirilo choked the handcuffed man, Good said. That incident was recorded by video camera. After being fingerprinted, Brack was led out of sight of the camera, then choked unconscious by Cirilo, Good said.When Brack woke up, he kicked his cell, prompting Cirilo and Hagopian to shock him with a Taser more than 10 times in four minutes, 22 seconds, officials said. Two Community Service Aides saw the incidents, they said.Hagopian, who as an acting sergeant was a supervisor at the time, used her body to shield the service aides from entering the room as Cirilo choked Brack, according to a police statement. One of the aides said he saw Hagopian with a Taser in each hand, shocking Brack multiple times.In June, Internal Affairs presented its case to the state attorney's office, Magill said. The state charged Cirilo and Hagopian in October. On Nov. 16, Magill told the city manager he should fire the two officers."We can't accept that behavior," Magill said Friday. "I'm extremely disappointed. We hired them, trained them, did the best we could."City officials held a meeting on Monday to allow the officers to defend themselves, but only their lawyer, Duffy, showed up.City Manager Good fired the officers Friday.Neither officer has a criminal record in Florida. Neither did Brack, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The domestic violence charge was dropped.Magill said it took eight months to discipline the officers because the state attorney working the case was promoted and the case was given to someone else; the Tasered man, Brack, left South Florida; and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma took up city police resources.Every Hallandale officer who carries a Taser goes through a four-hour training session by in-house instructors, said Assistant Police Chief James Kirchoff. About 70 patrol officers carry the devices.More than 7,000 law enforcement agencies, including the majority of the police agencies in South Florida, use the devices. Critics point out that more than 100 people nationwide have died shortly after being shocked by a Taser.In Florida, at least 24 people have died since 2001 after being zapped, more than in any other state. Medical examiners attributed most of those deaths to other causes, such as the presence of drugs, including cocaine.Kirchoff said that the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum recently put out new Taser guidelines, which the city follows.After the April incident the department put out a memo telling officers not to "dry tase" a person as Cirilo did when Brack was arrested, Magill said. During a dry tase the electrified darts are not fired; the Taser is pressed against a person's body and activated.News researchers Barbara Hijek and Bill Lucey contributed to this story.
A week later, before the trial, the Sun-Sentinel trumpeted the following in their editorial, as once again, their Editorial Board spoke about something they didn't know about!
South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial
4. Stun Guns
ISSUE: Two police officers are fired amid accusations of Taser abuse
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Hallandale Beach City Manager Mike Good has provided an object lesson for other agencies on how to handle the controversy over the use of Taser stun guns by police officers. He fired two cops accused of repeatedly using Tasers on a man who was already under arrest, handcuffed and in a holding cell.That's an apparent misuse of stun guns, which should be employed only when there is no safer way to subdue a suspect. In this case, though, one of the officers is also accused of choking the suspect into unconsciousness, a sign that this may have been a simple case of police brutality in which the Taser was merely one of the tools of abuse.Both officers have been charged with misdemeanor battery by the Broward County State Attorney's Office. That prompted their attorney to complain, incredibly, that a thorough investigation had not been done and that she's "not aware of any other state attorneys' offices that charge cops for doing their job."Maybe she should open her eyes and look around. Police who abuse their authority get charged with crimes quite often. Is brutalizing prisoners her idea of police just doing their job?Officials say these cops were trained in the use of Tasers, which, when used properly, are a valuable alternative to lethal police service weapons. They should have known they'd be crossing a line if they used Tasers on a confined and handcuffed prisoner.The officers will have a chance to challenge their dismissals. Whatever the outcome, Good has set a standard that other South Florida agencies should adopt, if they haven't already. Tasers should be used sparingly and only when necessary. Police should be fully trained in their use. And using Tasers as a means of brutalizing suspects shouldn't be tolerated.BOTTOM LINE: This is the right approach to the controversy over Tasers: keep them in use, but punish officers who abuse them.
I suppose I hardly need mention that the Sun-Sentinel NEVER followed-up and published a subsequent corrective editorial telling readers WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
A clear example of what NOT TO DO that ought to be made clear at J-School.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale to pay to settle one of two former police officers' lawsuits
By John Holland
January 28, 2008
HALLANDALE BEACH - City commissioners have agreed to pay more than $100,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging Police Chief Thomas Magill falsified evidence, a city board held an illegal meeting and detectives persuaded a felon to lie under oath about a fellow officer.Mayor Joe Cooper and attorney Alberto Milian, who represents former Hallandale Beach Police Officer Talous Cirilo, confirmed the city's settlement with Cirilo but would not comment further, citing a confidentiality agreement. However, Cooper said the payment was more than $100,000, including attorney fees."I'd love to talk about this and tell people what happened, but unfortunately I can't," Cooper said.Magill referred questions to City Attorney David Jove, who could not be reached for comment.The settlement comes less than two months after Cirilo filed two lawsuits against the city, alleging wrongdoing in the department and City Hall. Hallandale officials fired Cirilo, alleging excessive use of force, even though a jury acquitted him on battery charges.Cooper said the secrecy is warranted because a separate lawsuit, filed in federal court by former acting Police Sgt. Mary Hagopian, has not been settled. She promised to speak about the settlement at a later date "if I'm allowed to."Magill and City Manager Mike Good fired the officers two years ago after prosecutors charged them with misdemeanor battery on prisoner Michael Brack. Early on April 1, 2005, Brack beat his brother as they fought in a moving car, then attacked officers who tried to intervene, according to arrest records and police reports.Months after the arrest, a civilian employee said Cirilo choked and used a Taser device excessively on Brack.More than a year later, the State Attorney's Office charged Cirilo with three misdemeanor battery counts. Hagopian was charged with a misdemeanor for using the stun gun on Brack as he struggled with officers in a jail holding area.Defense lawyers said Magill orchestrated the charges as part of a vendetta against Hagopian and to show his bosses at City Hall he was a disciplinarian. Testimony at trial showed police employees mishandled two key pieces of evidence - a video surveillance tape and software from the Taser - distorting the confrontation between the officers and Brack, defense lawyers argued.Prosecutors tried the officers separately, but jurors reached the same conclusion, acquitting them after about 15 minutes of deliberation.After the acquittals, the officers tried to get their jobs back, but Magill and city officials refused.In one of the lawsuits, Milian accused the city civil service board of holding an illegal meeting outside City Hall on Oct. 9, 2007, one week before a scheduled hearing on the reinstatement.Florida law mandates that all meetings be advertised and prohibits public officials from meeting out of the public eye or discussing cases with each other. At least six board members met and discussed the meeting in a "knowing violation" of the law, according to the lawsuit.Good, the city manager, could not be reached for comment.Hagopian, a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo, on the force for five years, hired different lawyers and filed in different jurisdictions but made the same argument: Magill pressured his internal affairs officers and detectives to manipulate evidence and coerce false statements out of Brack so he could fire the officers and enhance his image as a reformer.Magill used public money to have officers track down Brack on a Louisiana oil barge, where he ended up after leaving Broward County and forfeiting his bail, both lawsuits assert.The State Attorney's office dropped all the assault charges against Brack, including the attack on his brother, then used him to testify against the officers.The chief temporarily assigned several officers to internal affairs without any training, for the sole purpose of building a false case against the officers, Hagopian's lawyer Rhea Grossman said in court papers.Magill sparked criminal charges against Hagopian "by preparing directly or at his direction police reports containing false or misleading information," Grossman wrote. Both lawsuits contend Magill elicited false testimony and compiled misleading evidence that he took directly to prosecutors.U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch tossed out four counts last month, saying they belong in state court. He refused to dismiss two others, including one alleging Magill presented false information to prosecutors so Hagopian would be arrested. Zloch also let stand a charge that the city had a policy of not training internal affairs officers that, Hagopian argued, "encourages fabricated evidence for the sole purpose of allowing the whims of its police chief to terminate employees."Milian said last week that the jury's quick acquittals proved the charges were bogus."This case was an abomination from the very beginning, and good officers were hurt," Milian said. "It could ultimately have a chilling effect on officers who want to protect themselves and their colleagues but are afraid because they could get in the same type of situation."
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And as I stated above, mendacious Magill, having NOT ever been fired or arrested -explain that to me!- still felt free after all of this to continue doing whatever he wanted, under then-City Manager Mike Good and current Mayor Joy Cooper.
And as usual, then-City Attorney David Jove, the one person who you'd think would've made it clear to Magill what complying actually meant, was nowhere to be found.
That's what happens when there is no accountability at City Hall.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale Beach
Former cop sues city again
A former Hallandale Beach police officer who last year received a $250,000 settlement from the city in a wrongful termination suit is again suing the city.In a complaint filed this week in Broward Circuit Court, former Officer Mary Hagopian accuses police Chief Thomas Magill of reneging on the settlement agreement by badmouthing her to Wilton Manors Police Chief Richard Perez, who hired Hagopian last year.Part of the settlement agreement forbids Hallandale Beach officials from making disparaging remarks about Hagopian and required that they limit their responses to questions about her employment with the city.Perez fired Hagopian in March and immediately sent an e-mail to Magill stating: "You are entitled to say 'I told you so.' "The suit also alleges that city officials have failed to comply with several public records requests filed by Hagopian's attorneys, who are seeking more than $500,000 in damages and court costs.City attorneys could not be reached for comment Friday.
So, you say that "[C]ity officials have failed to comply with several public records requests"?
I am shocked!
Shocked I say!
For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction:
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See also: Officer Talous Cirilo is Acquitted,
Thread Started on Nov 15, 2006, 12:32pm
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