Last week, Police Abuse.com received a telephone call from the Torrance Police Department. Sgt. Underwood told us that it was against the law for the victim of a sexual assault by a police officer to have a copy of her statement to the police. The sergeant told us that it would violate the accused officers rights for the victim to have a copy of her own recorded statement.
After agreeing to meet with our client and explain his position, Sgt.Underwood did not show up for yet another phone call he arranged. When I called his office on the following Monday with my client the officer did not answer the phone nor did he return our phone calls.
You can hear my reaction to the officers (officers rights) claims below. Torrance Police Department is making it up as they go. I don't believe a word of it.
In 1984 I was a DUI officer working for the Hawthorne Police Department. Earlier that year I demanded a reassignment. I reported my partner Jim White to our Lieut. and supervisor. I told my Lieut. that I could no longer work with officer White because he was falsely arresting citizens on trumped up DUI charges.
Successful DUI prosecutions require that the officers observe a pattern of driving that can be reported to the court in their testimony. No single driving offense or infraction is sufficient to prove DUI. Speeding or even a traffic collision is not by itself indicative of drunk driving. For this reason officers are required to support the conclusions they reach with field sobriety tests.
My partner, Jim White, rarely relied on DUI sobriety tests to determine if a motorist should be arrested. White often observed a single traffic offense and immediately concluded that the driver was drunk. He would approach the car and criticize the driver with a tirade of admonishments. If the driver questioned White's authority they were presumed drunk. What officer White was doing is what police officers call an "attitude arrest." White was eventually fired for other misconduct.
Police officers sometimes use the threat of a criminal violation like a DUI to punish citizens or to extort favors. Yesterday, a woman contacted PoliceAbuse.com reporting that she was propositioned during a traffic stop by a police officer in Dickson Oklahoma. The officer John Ruiz, told her that she could "blow" to thank him for not writing her additional violations. After telling her to "blow," officer Ruiz unzipped his pants. Below her report and our phone call to the police chief.
Update we received a telephone call from the Torrance Police Department requesting an interview with our client Ana Espinoza. We explained to the officer that Ana has been in fear of her safety since she reported her complaint to the Torrance Police Department. We equipped Ana with recording devices. She took this photograph of Torrance Police Department officers visiting her apartment unannounced. Below she photographed and videotaped a man who had been following her as she was shopping at Walmart with a companion. When she pointed the man out he approached her. He was not an employee of Walmart. We have asked the Torrance Police Department to determine if any of their officers are involved in harassing Ana after her complaint.
Torrance police officers coming to Ana's home without invitation
