Update on HB's effort to honor mendacious former Police Chief Magill. Watch and learn: this is how they do things at Hallandale Beach City Hall

Update on HB's effort to honor mendacious former Hallandale Beach Police Chief Thomas A. Magill. Watch and learn: this is how they do things at Hallandale Beach City Hall

A week later, it's time to observe what happens when you get too close for comfort for the folks at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

If you need a quick review of this issue, please see my blog post of last Tuesday, September 6th, appropriately titled, City of Hallandale Beach set to name street after ex-Police Chief who lied & wasted city resources to frame 2 HB officers; cost city $ & integrity
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/city-of-hallandale-beach-set-to-name.html

The email I wrote and the ensuing response speak for themselves I think.
But perhaps you disagree.
C'est la vie!

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September 7th, 2011

Dear City Manager Antonio:

I don't know whether I'll be able to attend tonight's HB City Commission meeting, so I'm sending this email now so that my longstanding concerns -shared by MANY other HB citizens- re agenda item J can be received and addressed whether I make it to the meeting or not.

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)

I believe it would be financially prudent and in everyone's best interests if your staff publicly mentioned the following information when explaining this specific agenda item and how it came up, BEFORE turning things over to the City Commission to discuss and vote, since to the best of my knowledge, that specific information has never been publicly mentioned at any Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting, and runs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The citizen taxpayers of this community are more than entitled to finally know the "true costs" associated with having Thomas A. Magill as HB Police Chief, and then retaining him even after discovering that he had personally engaged in highly unethical and, as seems clear, criminal conduct.

1.) The total amount of money damages paid (to be paid) in settlements costs from the city and/or its insurance company to Talous Cirilo and Mary Hagopian.

2.) The total amount of money the city and/or its insurance company paid (will pay) for attorneys fees for Cirilo and Hagopian.

3.) The total amount of money the city paid (will pay) their own Independent Counsel for all phases of this litigation.

4.) The total amount of additional costs (non-attorney) incurred by the city for personnel and resources for all phases of this litigation.

5.) The total amount in increased insurance premium fees per year paid by the city as result of all phases of this litigation.

By "all phases of this litigation," I refer to a.) the city's unsuccessful efforts to have Cirilo and Hagopian prosecuted for something they didn't do, b.) Cirilo and Hagopian's successful suits against the city, and c.) the city's efforts to defend itself against Mary Hagopian's charges that they are in material breach of the previously signed settlement.

Additionally, despite my having previously mentioned it to you by email and to the IT Dept. head, the city's message board continues to erroneously advertise the second City Commission meeting of the month at 7 p.m., despite the change to 6 p.m. a number of months ago.

There's no need to respond to this in writing, I'll look for you or your staff's reply at the meeting, either in-person or via computer if I can't make it.


City Manager Antonio's response came on September 8, 2011 at 9:16 a.m.

Sorry I could not reply sooner. As you know our meeting started at 1pm and did not end until midnight. As you were not able to attend the meeting and speak on this issue during public input the CC did approve the item unanimously.

For you future edification, the only time an email or document can or would be read into the record by the city clerk is on matters involving Quasi-judicial hearings. Therefore in the future I would not recommend sending me or my staff such a request (unless a Quasi-judicial), but instead contact your City Commission directly and voice your opinion for consideration in their decision. Of course you can always attend a meeting and speak to the matter directly.

On the concern related to the meeting times. I do not recall the email you previously sent but I thank you for the correction and this will be fixed immediately.

Well, as I believe you can see for yourself, they're NOT too interested in publicly sharing that financial information that they've kept hidden from Hallandale Beach's citizen taxpayers all these years.

But I thought that... oh, you remember that, too?
Yes, three years and seven months ago in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, an article about this attempt by Magill to frame and prosecute two citizens -HB police officers no less- written by John Holland that I posted here last week again -at the URL above- contained this delicious quote: "I'd love to talk about this and tell people what happened, but unfortunately I can't," Cooper said.

I guess she still can't, huh?
It's still TOP SECRET, not to be disclosed to Hallandale Beach taxpayers.

Along with a long-overdue explanation for why there was never ANY public discussion at meetings of the elected City Commission that Mayor Joy Cooper controlled as the Chair, about Magill's descent into unacceptable unethical behavior, why it was condoned and never punished thru his swift dismissal, the lack of any punishment against members of the Civil Service Advisory Board who acted contrary to Florida law and common sense and who attempted to accomodate the cover-up.

Yes, yet another embarrassing example of former City Attorney David Jove's uselessness.
He sat like a bump on a log the whole time.

City of Hallandale Beach set to name street after ex-Police Chief who lied & wasted city resources in attempt to frame 2 HBPD officers; cost city $$$ & integrity

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

On Wednesday night at 7 p.m., the Hallandale Beach City Commission is set to begin the process to name a HB street after ex-Police Chief Thomas A. Magill, who passed away last year, but not before intentionally lying and wasting city funds and resources in order to try to frame two innocent Hallandale Beach police officers, costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlement costs and attorney fees, plus some of its remaining small shred of 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.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbhallandale0128sbjan28,0,2207842.story

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."

Reader comments to the above article are still available at:

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/south-florida-sun-sentinel/TFKNF9QNQ3I7NHLQE

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.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2009-12-05/news/0912040123_1_fatal-crash-cruiser-settlement-agreement

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:

http://forums.leoaffairs.com/viewtopic.php?f=409&t=93981

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See also: Officer Talous Cirilo is Acquitted,

Thread Started on Nov 15, 2006, 12:32pm

http://policecrime.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=misconduct&action=display&thread=6019

Broward County School Board's continuing incompetency and the Broward State Attorneys Office

A thoughtful and well-informed friend brought this
Bob Norman column to my attention earlier this
afternoon, and I thought you'd want to know about
it, too.

The reader comments below are as of 5 p.m. today,
but check back later as there may be some additional
comments this evening.

Hm-m-m.. Moss & Associates?
Why does that name sound so very familiar?
Could it just be because they're the construction
company mentioned below in Bob Norman's
Daily Pulp column, which has made so much
money for doing something that was not necessary?
No, that's not it.

Oh, I know what it is.

Moss & Associates, is the same firm that is
a partner in the no-bid contract for the new
Marlins Stadium at the Orange Bowl site by
the genius tag team of commissioners of the
City of Miami and Miami-Dade County.

See:
1.) http://mosscm.com/projects/entertainment/florida-marlins-ballpark.php

2.) http://www.huntmossjv.com/

3.) http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090730&content_id=6152196&vkey=pr_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

Say what you will, but obviously, the folks at Moss
clearly know who to make their political contributions
to and how to make sure their campaign dollars
have an economically-beneficial ripple-effect.

Also, for those of you who may not know, the reference
to Sitsonhishands is a thinly-veiled reference to
Michael Satz, our not very aggressive Broward State
Attorney.

He's the longtime incumbent and frequent Bob Norman
foil, who ought to have ordered a team of very curious
professional investigators and forensic accountants to
parachute behind enemy-lines at HB City Hall years ago
-along with coordinated air-drops into other enemy redoubts
like Sunrise and Deerfield Beach- but who, instead,
has done anything of note.

Well, okay, there was, supposedly, according to a
trusted source of mine, a sternly-written letter to HB
City Hall about their snail-like pace on public records
requests and reminding them of their legal obligations
under FL statutes (and our very poorly-defended
Sunshine Laws,) but locally, that's hardly been the
stout defense of the public trust that's been needed
lo these many years.

Maybe it's my imagination, but as a person who
considers himself pretty well-read, honestly, I don't
think I've ever lived anywhere in the country -at any time-
including South Florida from 1968 to the mid-'80's,
where the local news media seemed to evince so little
curiosity or interest in the relative success or failures
of the efforts of the local SAO when it comes to cases
of public corruption and forcing local govt. agencies,
employees and their leaders, to actually follow the law,
as is the case now with Michael Satz.
He's practically invisible.
http://www.sao17.state.fl.us/

Except in Bob Norman's columns.
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/?keywords=%22Satz%22&x=25&y=9

In fact, Alberto Milian, who was one of the defense
attorneys who demolished the corrupt lies of Hallandale
Beach and their Police Chief' Thomas Magill in his
attempt to frame two innocent Florida citizens for crimes
they didn't commit, to impress City Manager Mike Good
-for more info on that, see see my April 14, 2008 post
titled, "Dial M for Magill" -and mendacity! at
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/dial-m-for-magill-and-mendacity.html
first came to my attention in 2006 in a Bob Norman
column that mentioned Satz, who had the phrase
The Face Behind The Disgrace just below his photo
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2006/06/its_milian_time.php

Here's an excerpt from the June 3rd, 2006 post titled:
It's Milian Time

The Zapata trial is just one more in the growing list of humiliations for Satz, who had the gall to go after rank-and-file deputies while protecting the obviously corrupt sheriff, Ken Jenne. That isn't just incompetence. It's injustice, more proof that Satz is a very bad seed. And there's no better replacement than Al Milian, who was employed in Satz's office for many years as a pitbull prosecutor. Milian would be tough on criminals -- including those holding elected office and leech off the public trough. Broward County needs this guy.

Owing to my particular interests and all, I've always
known the name of the State Attorney wherever I've
lived since I was in high school in North Miami Beach.
While I lived up in the D.C. area from 1988-2003,
since D.C. doesn't have a traditional SAO structure,
and the U.S. Attorney for The District performs many
of the same tasks an SAO does, I knew some of
Eric Holder's Asst, U.S. Attorneys, people who
actually prosecuted important criminal cases when
he was in charge.

People I greatly admired and spent time with
once in a while, but they were also people who
really did vary their routes home at night, just
to make sure that someone was not following
tailing them from the parking lot at Judiciary
Square.
So, admittedly, having been up there for so long
and gotten used to how things were handled
there, my frame of reference for understanding
how a guy like Satz got into office in the first
place, and then has been able to entrench
himself all these years, is somewhat fuzzy,
but what gives?

People I trust who are much better plugged-in
to Broward politics and judiciary matters than
I am, with the requisite historical perspective
on the myriad political skulduggery and lobbyist
logrolling of the area, are frustrated they are
unable to adequately answer my simple question.
Why has a very capable and even -dare I say it-
semi-articulate person, NOT run against Satz
under the banner of bringing accountability
and transparency to Broward's city and
county halls of power, besides the usual
criminal justice bromides?
Anyone care to explain it?

I have my suspicions, but I ask because
his record, such as it's been reported on,
sounds more to me like an indictment
than a record anyone would voluntarily
want to run on, given the chance.

Seriously, if you heard that CBS was doing a
one-hour drama series set in Fort Lauderdale,
say a legal or medical series, you know exactly
how they'd try to sell it, don't you?
The expensive boats on the canals and the ocean,
the sun and the sin, sexy people everywhere
doing upscale, sophisticated things before retiring
to their great well-decorated homes.
Nothing about South Florida's endemic traffic,
bad retail customer service, govt. red tape...

And you know in your head exactly how they'd
write the roles of the crusading, crime-fighting
SAO and its staff, even if they were just secondary
players.
I mean who doesn't appreciate a well-executed,
media-coordinated perp walk?

Yes, we've become conditioned to have certain
expectations of people in power.
So, granted that it's coming from a fictional premise,
but why must the actual reality here be so
VERY FAR from what the public would expect in
an SAO and his staff?

In any case, given both HB history and the
specific personalities involved, I'm sure that
Hallandale Beach City Hall will give lip service
to using that economic stimulus money it
just received for some reasonable purpose,
before the City Manager and Mayor decide
to use it on building a moat and a drawbridge,
to better keep critics like me and some of you
at arms-length.



You know, rather than in perhaps making sure the
public parking lot lights directly in front of HB
City Hall or the Police Dept. actually worked.
(The city hall and police dept with no directional
street signs anywhere in the city.)

Last night, barely more than half of them worked,
and one of the ones that didn't was, yes, the same
one closest to the police-controlled security camera,
which has only worked for -maybe- two months since
the security cameras were installed in January of 2008.

August 3, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier
Above, looking west at breezeway entrance to
Hallandale Beach City Hall Municipal Complex
from west-side sidewalk of U.S.-1/South Federal Hwy.
What you can barely(?) see is the public parking lot
light that's closest to the police-controlled security
camera.
It was out of order last night, much as it has been
for 99% of the time since the camera went up last year.
Trust me, when you're there, it's much darker
than it appears here, because I had to use a flash
to even get this mediocre quality photo.

I sure hope those investigative commandos from the
Broward SAO, if they ever show-up in Hallandale
Beach, remember to bring long-lasting flashlights!
They'll need them!

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/08/broward_school_board_blows_15.php
Broward School Board Blows $1.5 Million, Has No Money

By Bob Norman

Monday, Aug. 3 2009 @ 2:25PM

"Dial M for Magill" -and mendacity! Hallandale Beach Police Chief Thomas Magill apparently used lots of city resources and personnel to try to frame & imprison two innocent people -cops!- to impress his bosses at HB City Hall. So why was that allowed to happen, why was nobody punished and when will citizens find out how many hundreds of thousands of dollars Magill's illegal & criminal actions cost them? Don't hold your breath waiting for the South Florida press corps to find out!

My comments follow the excellent Sun-Sentinel article by John Holland from ten weeks ago.

As you read this, though, ask yourself, what's more shocking?

a.) That "Dial M for Magill" happened at all,
b.) South Florida media's gross indifference of story, or
c.) the City of Hallandale Beach's whistling-past-the-graveyard approach since the story was made public in the story below?

I don't usually post entire articles for obvious reasons, but I am making an exception here and now for this article because of its importance.
Because, principally, of my fear that the article will one day disappear from view and future residents will not be able to know the surreal events that have taken place here since I returned to South Florida from Washington, D.C. in late 2003, during the Marlins playoff run that led to a World Series win over the Yankees.
I have typed this out word-for-word and triple-checked it for errors to make sure that it appears as it originally did and so that anyone who comes to this page will know the truth.
Mayor Joy Cooper does not want you to know the truth, nor does she want you to ask her why Magill was not fired after this.
_______________________________________
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbhallandale0128sbjan28,0,2207842.story

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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After reading this thorough John Holland story in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel from ten weeks ago, perhaps you'll have a slightly better appreciation of exactly what I'm up against, at times, in trying to shed some sunshine on the city's activities and the crazy antics I've observed here, largely self-evident, that've been going on in Hallandale Beach ever since I returned to South Florida from the Washington, D.C. area, four years ago.
I've had a few unpleasant encounters with Police Chief Thomas Magill myself, who can usually be found with his trademark camera slung around his neck at most public events -and with a rather smug look on his face when city residents asks questions he can't genuflect.

For months I've considered filing a complaint with the FDLE against Magill and Captain Robert Rodgers because of their open and vocal hostility and very unprofessional attitude towards me last June 30th.


I was trying to get access to some very basic public information that I and any other resident was entitled to get at the Police Dept. HQ last June 30th.
Fortunately for me, their actions were all caught on their own closed-circuit camera in the lobby.
The Saturday afternoon I stopped by the Police Dept. HQ's lobby, after being at the library next door for a few hours, it was to get some contact info for the Dept.'s Public Information Officer (PIO), so I could send an email about some concerns of mine.

Mostly about what I and some other HB residents felt were the completely unsatisfactory policies that caused the police to NEVER patrol or make an appearance at the beach, even on busy three-day holiday weekends, as I've written here many times.


The life guards could have told you as much.

My trip was all for naught, since, typically, that information not only WASN'T available on the city's website, but there was also no business cards of whomever the PIO was, nor was there a Police Dept. organizational chart with that info on it.

I didn't actually need to talk to him or her, just get their contact info.

The police officer behind the desk tried her best but she couldn't find any business cards, any Police Dept. organizational chart, no nothing.

I was not surprised.


What did surprise me, though, was that a minute later, Capt. Rodgers and Chief Magill both came out into the lobby, and after I explained why I was there, and they were unable to come up with the information either, Rodgers started asking me if I was "that guy who kept hassling" him the previous year.


I told him that, to be honest, at that very moment in the lobby, it was only the second time I'd ever seen him, so no, he was clearly mistaking me for someone else.
Then, since he was the person directly in charge of the accreditation program, and since that was what they were celebrating that afternoon, I asked when the report would be made public.


And would it include, as these sorts of reports usually do, list suggestions for areas where the city might want to consider changing their current procedures to be more effective?
Unfortunately, Capt. Rodgers wasn't interested in answering my simple questions so much as he was interested in trying to intimidate me, so he got right in my face and told me that I was "breaking his balls" about 6-8 times over the next few minutes.

I was dumbfounded, since that seemed like a perfectly simple question for the one person in city government most likely to know the actual answer, but I fatally mis-judged their level of professionalism.
After a few minutes of this crazy verbal abuse from Capt. Rodgers -which I won't repeat here- I walked over to Chief Magill, who'd been watching all this from no more than 5-6 feet away, with his trusty camera, of course, right near the door into the dept. itself.

I asked him directly if he considered this behavior by Capt. Rodgers towards me to be appropriate for someone in his police dept., considering that I hadn't asked for him to come out into the lobby in the first place, and had merely come by for some simple public information which should've been readily available in the Hallandale Beach Police Dept.'s HQ.

Well, I'm hardly ruining the story by telling you that Chief Magill exhibited all the qualities you wouldn't want to see in a law enforcement supervisor, since he was about as thoughtful and concerned as a bump on a log.

It was the sort of attitude you'd expect to find in a speed trap of a burg when you're travelling thru North Carolina in the '50's with a New York license plate.But it's not Mayberry, you're not Danny Thomas and Chief Magill is most assuredly NOT the fair-minded and helpful Sheriff Andy Taylor.

Some people have asked me why I expect something different from a city that's so backward that there's NOT a single directional sign in the city pointing in the direction of either the City Hall or Police Dept., whether on U.S.-1 or Hallandale Beach Blvd, much less the intersection of the two -THE BIGGEST INTERSECTION IN THE CITY.
The answer is because I don't have to accept half-assed government as the norm.

A Miami Herald reporter I know told me recently that among those in the know -which, wait for it, is no doubt a small club indeed!- there's a great deal of embarrassment that the Herald STILL hasn't written anything about this story, nor have their smug columnists.

Even ten weeks after the South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran with the ball.
Granted, it's not a scoop, per se, since the City Commission had to vote on the settlement,
n'est-ce que pas, but still, nothing at the Herald or on local TV?

You'd think that a story that has a police chief found to have repeatedly lied, likely conspired to frame officers in his dept., a city that convened illegal meetings, used improperly trained internal affairs officers, police detectives committing fraud.... and the city only having to pay $100K-plus, would merit some attention.

And what happened to the people on that advisory board that held that illegal meeting?

What are their names and how were they punished?
At a minimum, were they kicked off the advisory board and suspended for a year from serving on any city board?

They broke the law!
When exactly are Mayor Cooper, City Manager Mike Good and City Attorney David Jove going to answer those simple questions in public?
And why won't anyone on the City Commission even ask those questions?
This is yet another shining example of the Miami Herald's crimes of omission, and local TV reporters continuing to largely swim in the shallow end of the pool.

So much for investigatory zeal!

Perhaps the U-M student newspaper will do an investigation, he said with a sigh.

They're probably not too proud to ask hard questions.
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Oh, and one last thing in the way of full disclosure.
Not that it matters, per se, but my father was a Dade County Police Officer for well over 25 years, proving time and again to be one of the best marksman in the entire county. That's why, despite it not being part of his regular job description, he was continually asked to be a firearms instructor training recent graduates of the county's police academy, out in Doral.
In the summer heat, humidity and armies of mosquitos, as I know from driving him out there.

The night of the May 1980 Arthur McDuffie riots, which resulted from the absurd jury verdict in Tampa, not Dade County, because of the emergency/curfew edict, when he was called into action, I drove him downtown to the Civic Center late at night so that he would not have to have his car down there, since nobody knew what would happen.

Once there, I was given something akin to a pass by his commanding officer to show any police who might try to pull me over for driving during the curfew, since by the time I got back onto north-bound I-95, it was well past midnight. By then, you could not only see the fires near various expressway exits, you could hear the explosions and gun fire all over the place.

For a number of years, my father also served as Treasurer of the Dade County PBA's Board of Directors, and was involved in everything from helping make political endorsements, to hearing PBA members and deciding who was entitled to PBA legal representation.
His badge number remains my ATM passcode.

That's part of the personal bias I bring to this blog and to this subject.