|
|
I have been in law enforcement since 1988, and in the late
90’s, I learned what I was missing by not being a member of
the PBA. In late 1997 and most of 1998, I was working as an
investigator for a sheriffs department in eastern Arkansas.
We took down three or four “chop shops” where the operators
were involved in the meth trade, body swings and altering
VIN numbers on stolen late-model trucks. We recovered around
65 stolen late-model vehicles and several more that were
“chopped” so bad, they will never be identified.
I moved on to take a supervisor position with a
multi-jurisdiction narcotics unit. In 2003, I was surprised
to be served with a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Two of the
suspects, along with a total of eleven persons that they
sold stolen trucks to, were suing me and the two state
police investigators that worked the case. It turns out that
the prosecution was supposed to be handled on the federal
level, but they were never prosecuted at any level for
whatever reason. Most of the innocent victims in the case
sued the persons they bought the vehicles from and recovered
damages. But, these people were suing US for illegal
search/seizure, violation of due process, conspiring to
violate their civil rights, and other miscellaneous BS.
The county I worked for at the time of the investigation,
like most counties in Arkansas, had insurance that provided
an attorney. The state police are represented by the
Attorney General’s office (who is representing the state as
a whole). Even though the attorney for the county sat with
me and I have no complaints about his services, it would
have been nice to have an attorney throughout this process
that was representing MY interest, not the county or state.
I went to work for the state police prior to this going to
trial; however, since I worked for a county when this
happened, the attorney general did not represent me.
So, there I sat in a Federal Civil Rights trial with the
Attorney General representing two fellow troopers and an
attorney sitting with me representing a county that I no
longer worked for. Long story short, the jury found against
us. Since we were not granted qualified immunity, most of
the judgment awarded was punitive, meaning out of our
pockets.
The case is still under appeal, and I remain in a state of
shock that something like this can happen for just doing
your job. In the almost 18 years of full-time law
enforcement, this is the only lawsuit I have had. Hopefully,
it will be the last. One thing for sure, though, if it ever
happens again, I will feel much more comfortable with a
SSPBA attorney looking out for ME.
Trooper Scott Russell #243
Arkansas State Police
|