4 cops rear end a car, caught on dash cam doctoring of the report to blame victim

[Liberal_in_LA]

Officers accused of faking report to cover up cause of crash
Four Hollywood police officers are on administrative duty pending investigations into allegations that they doctored a report of a DUI accident in February.

After a Hollywood police officer rear-ended a car in February and then arrested its driver on drunken-driving charges, he and other officers talked about doctoring the report -- it said a jumpy cat created a distraction -- to cover up the cause of the crash.

Unknown to the officers, the exchange was recorded by a dashboard camera in one of the patrol cars.

``I don't want to make things up ever, because it's wrong, but if I need to bend it a little bit to protect a cop, I'm gonna,'' one of the officers can be heard saying. ``We'll do a little Walt Disney to protect the cop because it wouldn't have mattered because she is drunk anyway.''

Alexandra Gabriela Torrensvilas, 23, of Hollywood, ended up charged with four counts of drunken driving and cited for an improper lane change.

On Tuesday, Hollywood police officials placed Officer Dewey Pressley, 42; Officer Joel Francisco, 36; Sgt. Andrew Diaz, 39; and civilian Community Service Officer Karim Thomas, age unavailable, on administrative duty pending an internal affairs investigation and a review by the Broward state attorney's office, said department spokesman Lt. Scott Pardon.

Francisco was driving the car in the crash; Pressley wrote the report and made the arrest.

Pressley's report detailing the Feb. 17 midnight crash in the 2800 block of Sheridan Street said ``a large gray stray cat'' that had been sitting on Torrensvila's lap jumped out of her car window and distracted her, causing her to veer into Francisco's lane, where she abruptly braked, and he hit her.

``I will do the narrative for you,'' one of the officers says on the tape. ``I know how I am going to word this, the cat gets him off the hook.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1161683.html

note.. 'the cat' gets the officer off the hook, and were it not for the dash cam, would have given this woman a long jail sentence. Are we even sure she was drunk? She would not have been in an accident if the cop hadn't hit her car

[ZombieHorde]

1. Creepy. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. More details on the incident

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/07/hollywood_police_walt_disney_case.php

At the end of the transcript, the cops seem pretty proud of themselves.

"We are always on the same page, that's why we get along so well," says one. "We are good. We are good."

Again, the cops aren't identified in the transcript, but the officer who wrote the Torres' arrest was Pressley. And the arrest report, sure enough, included a cat, or a "large object dark gray in color." To wit:

"Approximately 50 feet into the intersection, Officer Francisco observed a large object dark in color to have become ejected out of the driver's front window of this red Toyota," Pressley wrote in the report charging Torres with DUI, DUI with property damage, and unlawful lane change.

So now they've got Torres throwing the cat out the window. How do we know it was a cat? Read on from Pressley's report:

"Officer Francisco stated that the arrestee Torrens<sic> made a spontaneous statement that, 'It just jumped out.' At which time he questioned what had jumped out. The arrestee stated, 'A large gray stray cat,' which had been sitting on the arrestee's lap while she was operating this vehicle."

Get it? Torres was drunk, right, so nobody would believe her when she said, "I wasn't driving with a large gray stray cat!" This is brilliant. But there was still a finishing touch to be put on the story by Pressley: "This officer while administering this breath test did observe what appeared to be grey in color cat hairs affixed to the arrestee's clothing."

Bravo. There's going to be more to come on this one, as apparently Channel 7 has picked up the videotape.

[defendandprotect]

54. These cops should be on their way to prison . . .

imagine what they would willingly have done to this woman's life in order

to cover up a crash caused by one of them!

[Leftist Agitator]

57. They should be tortured and publicly executed.

As a warning to other pigs who would do such things.

[tblue37]

58. If the alleged cat was a stary, what was it doing in her lap, hmmm?

The cat that didn't exist was not a stray anyway, it seems.

[dkf]

2. I really hope some cops come out against Crowley because I'm

beginning to feel they are all the same after all. Now this story doesn't help me a bit.

[Forkboy]

4. Don't hold your breath.

[dkf]

6. I have some very close friends who are cops and I really really don't

want to feel this way. Sigh.

[Forkboy]

9. My sister's first husband was a uniformed officer, then a detective.

I used to hang out in the police station with him during third shifts (I can never sleep). I knew almost all the cops in my city by name. ALL of them lied. I heard them talk about how they'll lie in court, how they'll lie on reports, etc. My sister's husband told me one night about how they would pull black men over back in the 70's, beat the shit out of them, and then plant a knife or a gun on them.

It's the few good ones ruining it for all the bad apples.

[vadawg]

13. broad brush strokes, i guess you also believe that every minority is a criminal

seeing as you believe that everyone on the job acts the exact same way as everyone else on the job. Cant blame the popo for having the exact opposite feelings that you do and believing that everyone they meet driving a camero is a gun wielding drug dealer.

[Forkboy]

14. I don't think they acted the same way. They DID act the same way.

Tell you what, when you see 30 out of 33 officers and detectives lying right in front on you on a regular basis, you get back to us.

[vadawg]

16. so therefore you extrapolate that out to mean every cop is a bad cop

or is it only the majority, same thing as a cop saying that every minority deals drugs if the only minorities he ever has contact with are selling drugs. still dosent mean every minority does in fact sell drugs, thats why the broad brush is not a good idea,

[Forkboy]

18. Nah, I said there were a few good ones.

[defendandprotect]

56. Look to our prisons for the evidence of racist policing . . .

look to the number of states that have been under Federal surveillance

because of racist/brutal policing.

Do you think that happened because our police forces aren't racist?

Also look to the high levels of policing in African-American and other

Hispanic communities.

The Drug War and DUI's are now providing a new ways for police departments

to enrich themselves!

[EFerrari]

15. Why is it that bad cop apologists are always trying to blame the public

for their screwed up culture?

It's not broad brush to describe the behavior of individuals that you've witnessed.

You know, I've come to the conclusion this week that the best way to tell a bad cop from a good one is that bad ones are always off loading responsibility for their behavior. That applies to any profession of course but the blame shifting seems as endemic to bad cop culture as it does to the Republican Party.

[vadawg]

17. lol until you realise that the popo is the same as every other group whether thats

teachers, union guys, miners, fishermen, blacks, latinos, whites etc in that there are good guys and bad guys. As ive said before i see more criminal behaviour from certain groups in my community than in the ranks of law enforcement i deal with, does that mean i think every member of those certain groups is a criminal, hell no, i like all adults realise that all groups have good and bd amongst them.

[EFerrari]

20. All groups share the structure and dynamics of groups

but no, they are not all the same. Not in their culture and not in the influence or impact they have in society.

[misanthrope]

34. No, the way you tell a good cop from a bad one...

...is the good ones are ostracized by their colleagues. I've seen it a lot on our local force and at the state level.

[noamnety]

I would have more respect for you

if instead of being outraged at public anger concerning police abuses, you yourself expressed outrage at the abuses. Part of the reason the opinion of police is so low is because of exactly what you are doing - putting priority on circling the wagons and protecting your own, instead of being vocal about demanding that the ones who are corrupt get charged with crimes and do time for them.

I don't recall ever seeing you do that. It lowers your credibility and makes it look like you are blaming the public for the poor reputation, instead of blaming the people who really are responsible for giving the force a bad name. They are the ones betraying you - not their victims.

[EFerrari]

46. You have a point there. And thinking back, what led me in the direction

of distrusting Crowley's behavior in the first place was his refusal to even make a social gesture like apologizing for inconveniencing Gates. He didn't even have to say his arrest was bad. Instead, he immediately digs in and gets every cop he can find, the union and the commissioner to back him up. That's not skilled public relations, let alone race relations.

[Butch350]

28. You hung out with your sister husband during the late night?

A family that plays together...

[defendandprotect]

55. Interesting story . . . and Furhman, pretty filthy himself, gave some

details to an author which I think he tried to disclaim later on --

Every kind of brutality is occurring in the high levels of policing in these

minority communities -- and the drug war and DUI's are an added incentive for

them in collecting assets!

It is also clear that they've been recruiting racist police officers over decades

because we can see the results of it -- from NYC to Boston, etal --


PS: We've also seen some strange policing in regard to gender --

[GodlyDemocrat]

38. I don't think the fault there lies with Crowley, rather the Mass DOC law is plainly unconstitutional

n/t

[vadawg]

3. only thing worse than a criminal is an idiot criminal only surpassed by

the idiot criminal who dosent check the obvious recording equipment that is under his control...

[Forkboy]

5. And 99% of the time this stuff never gets out.

Cops do this daily.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. Thank goodness for more cameras and the internet. NAACP has started a website

to collect the videos and pictures of abuse.

[Forkboy]

10. I advise people to record every incident with the police that they are involved in.

I used to be involved with some pretty shady characters when I was younger, and to this day I'd still trust them over the police any day.

[maglatinavi]

11. police abuse

It is about time. Latino civil rights organization should do the same.:applause:

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. Link

http://www.naacp.org/research/test/mobile/mobile/

[Zywiec]

23. Funny, our local cops are fighting the dash cams. I wonder why? n/t

[defendandprotect]

60. We're all overpoliced now, but especially in the minority communities . . .

Still, when I pass a car that has been pulled over, half the time it is
an African-American - big change tho because it used to be ALL the time.

[BlooInBloo]

19. There they go again.

[BR_Parkway]

21. How does 1 person driving 1 car wind up with 4 counts of drunken driving?

[Blue_Tires]

30. that's my question as well..

[blueamy66]

31. Cops pile on the counts

so that at least one sticks.

She could have gotten a count for being over .08 and another count for extreme...being over .15 here in AZ...a count of DWI...the list goes on. The courts usually drop all but one.

[BR_Parkway]

36. I was wondering if each cop gave her one or something

[imdjh]

42. FInally, a question worth addressing. And no one knows. nt

[Echo In Light]

22. It seems there is a DAILY list of these fascists engaged in unlawful behavior. Few Bad Apples?

Highly doubtful. Seems to me that such a high number of incidents indicates a systemtic problem nationwide.

[imdjh]

43. There are 836,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the US. So when you get to 8,360 bad ones...

.... then you'll have a ONE PERCENT bad apple rate.

[EFerrari]

45. How can you come to any such number when their crimes are self reported

BY THEIR OWN DEPARTMENTS?

[TexasObserver]

24. Recommend

[gvstn]

25. The few bad apples excuse

is faulty because the prosecutions of bad officers is so rare. Why aren't the good cops arresting the bad cops? Good cop overhears bad cop telling version of events that doesn't jibe with bad cop's later testimony..why doesn't good cop arrest bad cop for perjury? It is his job to make the arrest.

If I knew every time a cop lied under oath he got a year in jail, I'd have a lot more respect for cops and prosecutors. To be fair, I'd also accept adding a year to a defendant's sentence for lying under oath during his trial.

[zonkers]

27. And it is obviously not the first time these cops lied. It comes too easily.

[GodlyDemocrat]

41. The law authorizes much more than just a year already

I agree, perjury must be punished severely, though I would not charge a defendant merely for saying he didn't do it, though if he proffered false facts to support his innocence, then I would.

[gvstn]

50. Yes but

Rarely is anyone charged with perjury. Cops are squirrely on the witness stand, "Looking at my notes, this is what happened...". When questioned about the story again, "according to my notes", they don't actually declare they are telling the truth. It is hard to prove the are lying and any discrepancies are put down to they testified truthfully according to their recollection.

Defendants are rarely charged because they are getting time anyway. Cops are supposed to set an example. I'm tired of hearing about cops gaming the system. Maybe it is just the internet making local news available nationally but between the tasing and the videos proving cops are routinely lying in official reports, I am getting disgusted.

[zonkers]

26. Damning tape.

[Iggo]

29. Yay cops!

They're the best!

[JVS]

32. Oh noes! More cop-bashing!!!

:cry:

[tuckessee]

33. Protect & Serve.

Protecting their own asses and serving up injustice everywhere they go.

[MrScorpio]

35. That's my "Cop's Priority List" in action for you

The truth always comes out last

[GodlyDemocrat]

37. All 4 cops need to be charged with aggravated perjury

We need honest police to ensure a society with a rule of law. Most cops are honest and do exercise proper discretion, but even if 0.5% of cops are dirty, you get what is happening in places like Oakland.

[Iggo]

39. Yea, but all those good cops....

....keep covering for the bad cops.

And that makes them...? (The answer is: Bad cops, too.)

[GodlyDemocrat]

40. Based upon my experiences, both online and in person, I doubt cops will defend the indefensible

This is flatly indefensible.

Now, in the case of Sgt. Jim Crowley, cops did come to his defense in mass there. However, two factors have to be considered. 1. The Massachusetts disorderly conduct statute is what was unconstitutional. Jim Crowley may have applied the disorderly conduct law itself correctly. 2. Police unions, just like any other union, don't want to get railroaded by management. When the President, the Governor, and the Mayor come down on a sergeant who probably applied (an unconstitutional) law correctly, the union has to come to his defense if it is worth anything.

I have no problem with unions doing their job. But the second a union starts defending illegal conduct (which I am not alleging here and which I doubt they will here either) is the second their activities should be questioned. However, it should be noted that it was the police unions that pushed for having dash cams to protect against frivolous complaints, so they do deserve some credit here perhaps.

[Iggo]

48. I wasn't talking about unions.

I was talking about dicks with badges, and the good cops who look the other way.

[Control-Z]

49. If they look the other way,

they are not good cops. Period.

[EFerrari]

51. Crowley obviously escalated a situation that should have been a 10 minuted stop.

No, he didn't apply a bad law well. He so badly mishandled his call that he had to find a way to cover his behind with a bad, baggy law. And then, he lied in his report.

[ecstatic]

44. That pesky dashcam. When will they start remembering

that it's there before committing their crimes?

[Sewsojm]

47. God Damn Pigs!!

These Pigs could care less about ruining an innocent woman's life to "Protect and Serve" Themselves!!

[Cali_Democrat]

52. ALL cops should be REQUIRED to wear personal cameras and audio recording devices

I like the dashboard cam, but this needs to be expanded so that EVERY cop has to wear a personal camera and an audio recording device.

You have a gun and a badge, you should have nothing to hide.

[Liberal_in_LA]

53. Breaking! Charges dropped against victim

http://cbs4.com/local/hollywood.police.dui.2.1106543.html

ul 29, 2009 6:57 pm US/Eastern
Driver's Charges Dropped In "Cop Cover-Up Case"
Reporting
Kimberley Chapin

Four Hollywood police officers are in the limelight after being caught on a dash camera apparently conspiring to cover up a rear-end collision with a young woman they pulled over.

Now, the Broward State Attorney's Office says they are dropping driving under the influence and improper lane charges from the event.

[gvstn]

59. Thanks for the update n/t

[imdjh]

61. I'm confused. If she was so drunk that she didn't know that she didn't have a large cat on her lap

.... then isn't that on the tape too? How were they going to fake that? I think it's obvious that they aren't very bright, but this is just strange.