Stabbed in the back

So, a few things are coming together after a couple of interviews today.

We need to return to last year when the Rick Hawley case became news.  Apparently, Hawley and Anthony Rose had been pretty good friends.  Something transpired between the two friends and, after hearing third or fourth hand information, Rose turned Hawley into the police administration for an alleged sexual assault.  It is unclear why Rose suddenly developed a conscience, after all, he had been the subject of numerous complaints about his habit of showing off nude pictures on his cell phone. 

The alleged sexual assault happened at a party one night where the liberal drinking of alcohol was going on.  Hawley was engaged in an encounter with another male behind a closed door.  Another person walked in on Hawley and the other male.  The supposed victim never made a report and repeatedly did not want to be involved in the investigation of it.  Rumors spread throughout the Albany Police Department, eventually reaching Rose where he took it upon himself to report it to superiors.

The female cadet, who Rose sent the nude photos of himself, upon learning that Rose had sold out his friend, promptly sent the pictures Rose took of himself while on duty to the police administration.  As it turns out, the female had been a cadet with the Albany police for four years but was away in the US military when she heard about the incident.  She ended up giving the Albany police a one hour statement regarding the photos of Anthony's penis.  The former cadet did admit that she had been engaged in a brief relationship with Rose (while he was still living with his girlfriend) but said that she never sent anything close to the explicit photos of herself that Rose sent to her.  At the time of the penis pictures, the former cadet was no longer affiliated with the Albany police and had not been for some time.

The entire Hawley dismissal and prosecution makes absolutely no sense.  Certainly, Officer Alexander had committed the same or more serious crime on his trip to Las Vegas.  Why wasn't he prosecuted and fired?  

Chief Ed Boyd states in his press release that "the investigation uncovered facts that do not reflect the high standards of ethical conduct expected of law enforcement professionals in general and, specifically, of the Albany Police Department."  Obviously Chief Boyd is being selective in his enforcement of the code of ethics.  I also find it interesting in the email below that Boyd does not like to release information to the public.  Boyd states, "At the time Officer Hawley was terminated we did not release any public statement.  The paper found out through other means and have asked for a statement."  It is quite apparent that Chief Boyd likes to keep things quiet. 

The emails below are an exchange between Boyd and Rose.  This appears to be in reference to the nude picture scandal.  Rose thanks Chief Boyd for his support during this difficult time.  

Towards the end of the last email Boyd comments "That is the extent of our statement.  We will answer other questions from the press related only to the generalities of the investigative process overall but will not discuss any of the specifics for either the criminal or employment investigations."  Boyd, again, makes the statement that he is going to hide information from the public.  He has a big lesson coming because 90% or more of the employment investigation and internal investigation are PUBLIC RECORD.  Only some limited parts of it can be redacted.

There is more to the story than what we have gotten so far.  There is a reason why Boyd is covering for Rose and Alexander.  The way it used to work at the Benton County Sheriff's Office is that the rank and file had something on the Sheriff.  They had this little thing worked out and everyone was happy.  Is there a skeleton in Chief Boyd's closet?  Maybe one of the other high ranking department personnel at the Albany police?  

From: Boyd, Ed
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 1:48 PM
To: Police - Everyone
Subject: Information Released to the Press

Hey –

Good evening!!  Thanks very much for your note, Anthony – I hope you are doing good!..........get to see you on dayshift again here the middle of next month…..

You are very welcome and honestly, it was my privilege to be able to do so.  I’m just very pleased it was helpful for you in some way……………thanks for your note; it means quite a bit!  Take care and talk with you soon!! 

Ed

From: Rose, Anthony
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 7:50 PM
To: Boyd, Ed
Subject: RE: Information Released to the Press

I am very appreciative of how all of this was handled. I just want to thank you for your support in the ordeal I went through and tell you that it meant a lot to me when we talked at my truck… 

Anthony Rose, Police Officer

Albany Police Department

1117 Jackson Street SE

Albany, Oregon 97322-3245

 (541) 917-7680 (business line)

(541) 928-6692 (fax)

Anthony.Rose@CityofAlbany.Net

From: Boyd, Ed
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 1:48 PM
To: Police - Everyone
Subject: Information Released to the Press

Hello –

The Democrat Herald called specifically asking for a confirmation from us if Officer Rick Hawley had been terminated.  At the time Officer Hawley was terminated we did not release any public statement.  The paper found out through other means and have asked for a statement.  Listed below is the full and complete statement released to the paper this morning. 

Officer Rick Hawley has been terminated from his position with the Albany Police Department, following a comprehensive employment investigation, Chief Ed Boyd announced today.

Officer Hawley had been on paid administrative leave since April 16, 2010, after allegations of criminal conduct were made against him. Placing an officer on paid administrative leave is routine in these types of cases and in accordance with established employment practices.

Hawley was indicted by a Linn County Grand Jury on September 9, 2010 on one count each of first-degree sexual abuse and hindering prosecution, both felonies.

Hawley was terminated on November 15, 2010 as the result of findings from an internal employment investigation which was separate, apart from and independent of the investigation done by law enforcement agencies into the criminal allegations. The employment investigation uncovered facts that do not reflect the high standards of ethical conduct expected of law enforcement professionals in general and, specifically, of the Albany Police Department, Chief Boyd said. The employment investigation uncovered facts not relevant or a part of the criminal investigation.

In order to avoid any prejudice to the officer or the state in the pending criminal matter, City officials will have no further comment.

That is the extent of our statement.  We will answer other questions from the press related only to the generalities of the investigative process overall but will not discuss any of the specifics for either the criminal or employment investigations.   

Thank you. 

Ed Boyd

Chief of Police

Albany Police Department

1117 Jackson Street SE

Albany, Oregon 97322

ed.boyd@cityofalbany.net

blog link http://www.cityofalbany.net/police/blog

FBINA 212

LEEDS 59

541-917-3203

Fax 541-926-5873

GGBWY

---

DISCLAIMER: This e-mail is a public record of the City of Albany and is subject to the State of Oregon Retention Schedule and may be subject to public disclosure under the Oregon Public Records Law. This e-mail, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please send a reply e-mail to let the sender know of the error and destroy all copies of the original message.

---

Working on getting the video

Apparently, when the bachelor party went to Vegas and got kicked out of Coyote Ugly, the security thought enough of the incident to keep a copy of the video of Albany cop Alexander fondling the dancer.  I am working on getting a copy of this video.  I believe it still exists.

On other fronts I am working on some other information given to me that Alexander has been involved in several other incidents where he allegedly committed crimes and instead of being charged, the investigating agency called his supervisors at the Albany Police Department instead.  Gee, I wish I could get one of those get out of jail free cards!  Once I am able to independently confirm these incidents I will give a full report.

Finally, I am submitting a freedom of information request on the City of Albany for their internal records regarding all of these incidents.  APD ain't gonna like it too much when they have to hand them over.  I already know that they think their internal documents and personnel records are privileged and they have a big, hard lesson coming.

Hey look, a Police Chief did his job

Unlike Albany police chief Ed Boyd and Corvallis police chief Gary Boldizar, the Salem police department actually did something about a bad cop.  And. look at the misconduct, inappropriate texting and phone calls with a TEENAGE GIRL.  Imagine that.  What a difference 20 miles makes.


http://salem.katu.com/news/people/former-salem-officer-pleads-guilty-misconduct/442037

Former Salem officer pleads guilty to misconduct 

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A six-year veteran of the Salem Police Department who quickly rose up the ranks to patrol corporal has pleaded guilty to first-degree official misconduct and permanently lost his police certification.
Officer Raul "Rico" Ramirez agreed to two years of probation and 80 hours of community service after he admitted to using his position to engage in inappropriate texting and phone calls with a teenage girl. The two had no physical contact.
Ramirez resigned in April.
Salem police began an investigation in the spring. The Marion County District Attorney's Office recused itself from the investigation, and the Lane County office served as prosecutors.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Solutions

I have been getting a pile of hate mail and "you don't know what you are talking about" mail.  So, I have a solution.  Any of you out there who know more than me or have another side of the story to tell can email me at bentoncrusader@yahoo.com and tell me your side of the story.  You MUST provide your real name and a valid phone number.  I will be happy to publish your side of the story.

Everyone else seems to know the "real" story but me and I would like to hear it.  I predict I will get absolutely ZERO response to this.  We will wait and see.

Clarification

The past two stories have been on the interview of Albany Police Officer Michael Hudgins by the Oregon State Police.  Hudgins makes multiple allegations about corruption in the Albany police department.  I am not saying that an event happened exactly one way or another, I am simply reporting about the allegations made by Hudgins which is public record out of the HAwley trial.

Second, I only allow comments relevant to the story to be posted.  The Tim bashing you don't know anything about this because you are stupid do not get published, they get deleted.  If you have something worthwhile to say, say it.  Leave the extra garbage out.

There are always people out there who will not believe anything you tell them, even if you draw them a picture and show them video proof of it.  I feel very sad for these people.

Part two of the Hudgins interview

As Oregon State Police detectives continued to listen to Albany police officer Michael Hudgins go on about corruption and misconduct in the police department, Hudgins dropped a bombshell.  He tells the detectives, "I know when another officer(s), they go down to Vegas (Las Vegas), they openly brag, "Oh, dude, I fingered this girl right in her crotch, sniffed the fingers."  Security came in.  They looked at the video and the go, "Look, you guys did do it." Everybody knows it at the PD."

What happened is that Officer Dezi Meza was getting married and Meza, and Officers Alex (Buddy) Johnson, Nathan Hull, and Juston Alexander went to Las Vegas for Meza's bachelor party.  This was the last weekend of July 2010.  They went to the Coyote Ugly club and were watching the dancers.  Apparently, this is more like a gentleman's club and not a strip club.  Juston Alexander got close to one of the dancers and was able to grab her in the crotch area.  The dancer was, understandably, distressed by this and asked security to throw the party out.

Security came in and the group identified themsleves as police officer's and denied assaulting the dancer.  They were then taken in the back and shown the video of them, in fact, doing what they were accused of, Alexander assaulting the dancer.

The group then returned to Albany and openly bragged about their Las Vegas exploits to other officer's within the department.  At least seven other APD officer's heard them bragging at a party a month or so later.

Back to Hudgins interview, Hudgins states that the Albany police hierarchy was indifferent to the incident, he states, "They were like, Oh well, it happened in another state.  Has nothing to do with us."

Hudgins also makes the statement that "Corruption is when the police administration turns a blind eye to criminal activity."  I could not have said it better myself.

I have at least two more incident involving Alexander that I am looking into and will report on those when I confirm the information.

Albany Mayor clueless

Here is what Albany Mayor Sharon Konopa says:


Mr. Tim Smith,

Albany City Councilors and myself are policy makers and we do not manage
the city or staff. 

I recently heard about the situation regarding
Officer Rose.  The City Manager Wes Hare and Police Chief Ed Boyd
explained the situation to me.  The situation was investigated from three
investigators who were from other jurisdictions. It was resolved over a year ago.
They found there was no violation of the law, since this was between two
people having a
relationship. The person having the relationship with the officer was not
a city employee.
The photographs were shared with a third party after the relationship
ended.
It did fall under a violation of employee policy.  Officer
Rose was disciplined for not following his employment policy.

Mr. Smith, as you know any city, county, state can not control all
actions of every employee one hundred percent of the time.  The same for
private businesses or corporations.  Sometimes employees can make errors
and you probably have as well in your life.  No one is perfect in this
world.  But, I do know as my involvement with Albany's government for
fifteen years we have one of the most qualified and professional staff in
the state.  I have high trust in their judgment and what decisions are
made are with full consideration of all issues.

Sharon Konopa
Mayor of Albany




So, you citizen's of Albany, writing letters to the mayor or city council is probably hopeless.  They don't care and are unwilling to demand integrity from the Albany Police Department.


A couple of things.  The pictures were sent to an 18 year old police cadet who graduated from high school in 2010.  I would argue that she was an employee of the city as she was a volunteer.  She performed work for the city for the experience she gained by performing the work.


Second, Konopa better take off her rose colored glasses and take a hard look at what is going on in the police department.  Maybe when I publish the next story in a few days, her eyes will open a little.

A different story. Grass seed disaster ahead

As many who live in the Willamette Valley already know, grass seed is a huge part of agriculture.  This year is shaping up to be a complete disaster for the crop.

Usually, by the fourth of July, warm weather moves in and farmers are able to cut and harvest the yearly grass seed crop.  This year however, rain has persisted and grass sits in fields either waiting to be cut or is laying in windrows waiting for the combines.

Grass that sits in windrows will sprout or develop molds that reduce the germination rate of the seed.  Some wetter fields can even still be too muddy to run equipment through them.

In the past 48 hours in Corvallis we have had .70+ inches of rain.  Last week one day the total was .17 inches.  Grass seed can weather brief periods of summer showers as long as the hot weather returns and dries it out.  This year the rain and cool weather have been in place most of the summer.  We have seen very few days over 80 degrees and none over 90 degrees yet.

The ten day forecast does not show much hope for anything drying out too fast.  We will keep you posted and hope for some dry weather.

Smoking guns smoking....

Another shocking bombshell comes out of the Albany Police Department in records obtained during the investigation of Officer Rick Hawley.  Michael Hudgins of the Albany police department was interviewed by OSP detectives Chambers and Airs on September 16, 2010.  Officer Tim Sousa of the Albany police also sat in on the interview.

The interview was in relation to the investigation of Albany police officer Rick Hawley, who was being investigated for an alleged incident that occurred in Corvallis.  Hawley allegedly touched another male at a party in an inappropriate matter.  The incident was first reported to the Corvallis Police.  It is unclear who the original reporting party was.  It appears that a rumor of some sort reached another member of the Albany police who reported it to supervisors at APD.

The purpose of this interview was to find out what information Hudgins might know about the Hawley case.  Hudgins generally supported Hawley and said that Hawley adamantly denied any wrong doing in the case and believed that he was being unfairly targeted by the prosecutor and the Albany police department.

What happens during the interview is that Hudgins goes off on a speech about corruption within the Albany Police Department.

He details the incident where Officer Anthony Rose is caught taking pictures of his penis on duty.  “An officer is on duty.  He exposes his penis in uniform. Takes a picture of it.  And he sends it to a girl while he’s on duty.”  The Albany police called Rose in and the girl comes down to APD and gives a statement.  Hudgins reiterates that it is a true story.  Rose got a one year letter of reprimand placed in his personnel file over the incident.

Hudgins makes the statement that he thinks it is the crime of official misconduct.

Hudgins tells the detectives that during the grand jury phase of the investigation into officer Hawley’s alleged crime that the grand jury asked for specific evidence from the prosecutor and the prosecutor refused to give it.  Specifically, they asked for recordings and police reports that the prosecution then refused to provide to them.

Hudgins went on to say that he believed that Albany Chief Ed Boyd wanted the Rose incident swept under the rug because another scandal would interfere with him getting additional money for the police department.  Hudgins said, “I believe the Chief of police doesn’t want this second incident getting out with an officer taking a picture of his penis, because he wants a $9 million police department.”  “He doesn’t want to have to deal with the public.” And “Albany Police can’t police themselves.”

The Chief of Police put his personal agenda for the department first, before protecting the integrity of the department.  This is a pretty damning indictment of the priorities of Albany police chief Ed Boyd.

There was, in fact, another series of incidents where an officer did more than expose himself while on duty.  That story next.

Small update on stalker

May 14, 2010 I wrote a small post about having a stalker.  (You can go back in the archives and read about it.)  I had to end up threatening to sue the city to get the guy to back off.  Recently, I was given information that the stalker, Jack Lennon, had applied to be a marine patrol deputy with the Benton County Sheriff's Office for the summer.  Lennon was actually hired as a conditional hire pending a background check.  They must have done a google search of his name because the sheriff dropped him like a hot potato.

This guy had no business even applying for the job.  I am glad someone at the sheriff's office was on their toes because this could have been a disaster.

Rose is the least of APD's worries

Penis picture boy Anthony Rose is the least of worries for the Albany Police Department.  I received a document today that shows the Albany police swept a sexual assault by one of their officer's under the rug.  I will have more this weekend as I review the documents and make some phone calls.  The guy who sent me the scalding rebuke of the Benton Crusader may want to take the time to wipe the eggs of his face before they pile up.

I know more than you do!

This is the standard "I know more than you so you don't matter as much" response.  Someone thinks their opinion is grander becasue they are "informed.  It is also a variation of "you bash cops so what you say is irrelavant" story.

From the comments:

"I'm finding this post particularly interesting. You see, I happen to be privy (much moreso than I can guarantee you are) on what has and has not happened with this incident. I agree with this particular story and also am in agreement with the fact that in this specific incident, this individual has conducted himself in many ways which would have gotten most officers fired at other agencies. However, I am also turmoiled in agreeing with anything you really have to say about most things because once again, having much more information about most of the subjects you post about clearly indicates that you are mostly just another uneducated individual who loves to "think" he has the whole story about these issues. I notice you love to use the typical buzz words like "cover up", "corrupt", "honorable", etc. Clearly you are speaking as though police officers are not people. That they don't have personal lives off duty. Guess what?? Some of them drink alcohol! Some of them watch adult movies! I bet some of them have maybe even been to adult entertainment clubs before!!!! Eeeeeeek! Hold the phone everyone! We can't have morally degraded people like that protecting us!!! I find it so ironic that those who are not in the profession are so quick to judge those that are. Oh.. and for things that they did in their own private lives. Clearly in the case with Officer Hawley, this did not occur with another consenting adult. But luckily in most cases, it is. It is only the vindictive people like you that feel the need to crucify law enforcement professionals because apparently you didn't have a good interaction with one or more. If you had the slightest clue about really what goes on within the ranks, or if you simply didn't have waaaaay too much time on your hands, you likely wouldn't write most of the highly inaccurate information on here and would find a more productive hobby. But then again, who would keep the poor public abreast of all the horrible corruption surrounding them???? "

Where to begin.  First, had you followed this blog you would know that I spent two years as a reserve police officer.  I know well what goes on in a police department and the politics inside.  I developed a bad taste in my mouth and did not further my law enforcement career.

So, you have more information than I do?  Really?  That must make you a cop somewhere.  Are you really going to sit and defend the officer's that end up with stories written about them on this page?  You have to mess up pretty bad to end up on my radar.

You attempt to belittle and discount the information I present here.  Instead of stating that I am uneducated and don't know anything why not provide some information that corrects my alleged inaccuracies?

I know well that cops are people but you know what?  They are cops and they took an oath and signed a code of ethics that bound them to living life a little cleaner than everyone else.  That is why they get paid the big bucks.  I would hope that you would agree that there is a fine line between having a beer once in a while and taking pictures of your erect penis and sending them to a barely legal female.

My information will pass any test of scrutiny.  Jim Crain found that out and it ended up costing him $20,000 in legal fees. 

I expect that the police will conduct themselves in a manner that brings credit to them.  If that is being vindictive, if that is what you want to call it then so be it.  You chastise me for using words like cover up and corrupt.  What would you call it when, instead of holding an officer accountable for his actions, the officer is allowed to go on and repeat the same behavior over and over again.  Certainly he is not being held accountable for his actions.  What lessons does he learn from this?  That the next time he makes an iffy arrest it os okay to lie on a police report because he has not been held accountable for anything to date?  It is a slippery slope.

It is my mission to expose corrupt cops.  That is what this blog has become.  I have earned every right to tell stories of cops who do bad things.  And, surprise!  There are tons of others out there doing the same exact thing.  If the system worked and police administration were doing their jobs, we would have nothing to write about.

The old double standard at work

My latest stories here have been on my favorite subject, the police.  The Albany police department specifically.  No where have I observed a better illustration of a double standard as in this case.

Former Albany PD officer Rick Hawley was terminated and prosecuted for alleged sexual misconduct over the past six months.  Hawley's crime?  Touching another male at a drunken party.  Hawley came out as a gay man and it seemed to go downhill for him from there.  He lost his job and was up on a pile of charges related to the party.

Hawley ultimately plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge.  One cannot blame him for this after having the felonies piled on.  That is what district attorney's do these days.  They pile charges on in an attempt to get you to plead guilty to something, making their lives easier by not having to go to trial.

Information has come out on this story of sordid sexual affairs and misconduct of another officer and yet he is still on the job?  He allegedly sent nude pictures of himself to a young woman member of the Albany police department.  This may not rise to the level of a felony crime but it certainly rises to the level of misconduct.  Maybe a more appropriate name for it is conduct unbecoming an officer.  We don't expect to see our police officer's erect penis's on the internet.  What happens when this guy goes to court next time?  A defense attorney is going to impeach this officer for his own bad judgement.

This story is going to hit a larger news venue soon and we'll see what happens then.  I would like to see some heads roll at the Albany police department.  Wait and see.

More cover ups

The more important story of this blog is the routine policy of trying to cover things up by the police.  I have seen this over and over again in the past five years.  In the Dave Cox story, the Corvallis Police knew he was an anomaly with his drunk driving arrest record and chose to cover it up by calling him a hero.  Cox was continually praised for his efforts to take dui drivers off of the road.  They had to have known that his statistics were way out of the norm and chose to ignore it.

The biggest case detailed here so far was that of Jim Crain.  He had the entire Corvallis police department scared stiff thinking that he was going to sue them for some sort of discrimination because he is supposedly part Native American.  All the while Crain was piling up thousands of pages of internal investigations detailing his misconduct.  Most of the investigations were termed "unfounded".  No one bothered to take a step back and look at the totality of the circumstances or they knew it but just did not care.

Now, we have Anthony, literally caught with his pants down on film.  This appears to have been going on for months, if not close to a year, and every indication is that the Albany police knew about this.  Where are the demands for integrity from an agency?  It seems that individual officer's are required to sign a code of conduct, maybe it is time for some sort of agency certification.  If the agency fails the citizens then maybe it should not be an agency any longer.

Another for my readers

Speaks for itself.

Don't blame me

Many comments have been posted on this site about the last corrupt cop posting.  I have this to say about all of this.

It doesn't matter if Anthony is the nicest guy on the planet.  The fact of the matter is that he took photos of himself and his penis and they ended up on the internet.  We entrust the police to carry guns and entrust them with the power to take away our freedom when they believe we have committed a crime.  We expect with these responsibilities, that they live their lives in an honorable manner.  Their off-duty actions dictate their effectiveness on-duty.  Anthony has failed to live up to these high standards that we asked of him.

I don't like seeing anyone get into trouble for a few pictures.  BUT, I can pretty much guarantee that there are more pictures and more negative information that Anthony has brought upon the Albany police and the profession of policing.  This is most likely the tip of the iceberg.  If the Albany police knew about the pictures then there are more to be held accountable in this matter.  I have heard rumors that the Albany police department is as corrupt as the Corvallis police and I don't doubt it.

It is  long past the time where we demand that the police conduct themselves in an honorable manner and that we hold them to a higher standard.

FIVE YEARS!

It was about a month ago five years ago that I started the Benton Crusader news site.  Time flies and it has been a long road but worth it.

Here's to five more.

Follow up

To answer a few questions that came my way.

I have more pictures but there is simply no way to make them acceptable to post here.  Two of them are of this guy's penis and it is very obvious that he has his police uniform pants on while pulling them down to expose himself for the picture.  It looks like he is sitting in a car seat.

I am not at all surprised that Albany PD would be aware of this.  There is simply no more integrity in policing in this country, maybe there never was?  I always thought that when you put on the uniform it meant that you were expected to act in a more professional manner on and off duty.  What do I know anyways?

Another Albany Cop in trouble?

Sent to me anonymously......

Officer Anthony Rose

Another series of pictures that should have remained private.

Censored picture. Use your imagination as to what what is under the black box.

The story is that these came from a female inside the Albany Police Department to an outsider to me.  I believe they are authentic or I would not have posted them, oh, and I have more.

Yes, we are still jack booted thugs!

From a facebook friend:


"According to the Corvallis Police these are Items intended for destruction. My son was having fun lighting them off and he got arrested for a Class C Felony and is currently in Jail until an the DA decides what they are gonna do. Or until a hearing with the Judge.... HAPPY 4TH OF JULY... celibrate your independence by going to jail..."

The CPD are completely out of control. (and, apparently, the entire legal system form the legislature on down.)  When is someone going to do something?