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RPPA says “trust” the Chief in self proclaimed
negotiations that subject officers to unnecessary and abusive
administrative and criminal investigations
On Thursday, February 8, 2007, a leader of the RPPA
announced through an e-mail communication that leaders of his group sat
down with Chief Jane Perlov and negotiated a resolve to concerns with
Special Memorandum 07-001.
The special memorandum which provided change to DOI 1106-07 dated
February 5, 2007 restricted officers from constitutionally protected
activities by specifically subjecting officers to harm by improperly and
arbitrarily regulating the interests of officer’s family and children
whereby the city has no valid interest in obtaining or attempting to
obtain information regarding real-estate holdings and interests of
officer’s children.
The immediate family element of the policy was removed but that is where
the good news ends.
By removing the strongest and clearly substantive legal challenge to the
policy, the RPPA succeeded to changing an unlawful policy into a very
bad policy that remains in effect, subjecting all Raleigh police
officers to administrative and criminal investigation. The process of a
criminal investigation has already been started by the department’s
internal affairs unit.
PBA leaders were approached about the policy but refused to negotiate a
“compromise.”
PBA choosing not to negotiate any selected portion of the policy moved
to attempt to enjoin the department from implementing any part of the
policy. PBA attorneys were to file a temporary restraining order in Wake
County Superior Court on Friday, February 9, 2007.
The strategy to respond directly to court preserved the greatest
opportunity to have the entire policy rescinded. Unfortunately, by
removing the one solid legal challenge from the policy rendered the
court challenge moot.
What remains is bad policy that needlessly subjects officers to a
witch-hunt investigation and other abuse.
PBA knows of no other police department in the state that has such a
policy. Thanks to the efforts of RPPA leaders, that could change.
Several members of the city council have advised PBA they have concerns
about the policy as it is still written.
A city official has admitted to PBA that he was the source of
information to the News and Observer which led to inflammatory stories
referring to officers who owned rental property as “police slum lords.”
That official advised PBA that they called the paper because the city
manager would not take any action to look into the councilman’s
concerns.
Another city official admitted that special memorandum 07-001 was a knee
jerk reaction to the media reports.
The city manager has advised that (now that the policy is legal) there
will not be any recommendations to change the policy because, well
because, they do not have to.
Thanks to RPPA leader’s purported negotiations with the chief, the city
manager is right.
The RPPA President advised Raleigh officers that it has been his past
experience that there has “never been a reason not to trust” the chief.
PBA learned otherwise on November 16, 2006 after protracted discussions
back to 2004. Our trust in the chief ended when she testified under oath
that she was above the law and could (and did) restrict state and
federal law compromising officer safety and an officer’s constitutional
right to self defense. (See related article www.ncpba.org/raleigh_wake_chapter.htm
or January 2007 issue of The Blue Review - Raleigh Police Chief Claims
Right to Restrict State and Federal Law and Deny Legal Right of Self
Defense to Raleigh Police Officers)
We have known of chiefs and other government officials who thought they
were above the law, but this is the first occasion we know of anywhere
in the country where a police chief has ever provided such evidence by
way of her own sworn testimony.
PBA’s decision to go to court was to avoid another meaningless
negotiation with a chief that says she is above the law. We knew any
part of special memorandum 07-001 would be as wrong and unethical as
other policy revisions that remain wrong and in at least one case still
unlawful.
While RPPA’s efforts mooted one legal court challenge, PBA is continuing
our efforts to challenge the unlawful use of force policy that has so
far cost the careers of two outstanding officers. PBA is meeting with
city council members to address the totality of former Chief Perlov’s
entire unlawful policy strategy and other problems with the city’s
disciplinary process.
The chief has now resigned from the Raleigh Police Department and is
gone. Hopefully RPPA leaders won’t attempt any further so-called
negotiation that stands in the way of real, substantive and professional
change all Raleigh police officers need and deserve. We will keep you
posted.
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