Travis, Author at Friends For Fullerton's Future

October 8, 2011October 7, 2011Setting The Bar Low

Confirmed: Fullerton Cop Arrested for Stealing iPad at TSA Checkpoint

Here’s the story we reported at the end of June, a truly embarrassing tale of theft and utter stupidity perpetrated by one of Fullerton’s Finest. And a harbinger of things to come. Forget the final sentence. We now know very well about the moral turpitude that pervades pat McKinley’s police force.

– Joe Sipowicz

The following report confirms that an off-duty Fullerton police officer was arrested for stealing an Apple iPad at a Miami International Airport TSA checkpoint last month. According to court documents, FPD Officer Kelly Mejia was caught on surveillance video taking an $800 iPad from another passenger just after it had passed through the x-ray machine in the presence of TSA security agents.

View the arrest report

After the security footage was reviewed, Miami police canvassed the airport and discovered Mejia holding the iPad at the boarding gate. Mejia initially stated that she found the iPad and that she intended to keep it. Upon further questioning, the arresting officer says that Mejia confessed to taking the iPad and was placed under arrest for 3rd degree grand theft (a felony in Florida.)

The arrest report refers to Mejia’s occupation as a police officer and lists the address for FPD Headquarters as her place of employment. Kelly Mejia has been working with the Fullerton Police Department for at least six years and earns about $86,000 per year as a patrol officer.

It’s hard to imagine that this type of brazen theft in a high security zone would be anyone’s inaugural venture into pickpocketing. The authority granted to the occupation of police officer certainly presents many opportunities to bring home a little something extra on the side. I wonder if anything else is missing around here?

And how many pending criminal cases in Fullerton will be called into question if this officer loses her credibility in court? Will this officer be fired or just slapped on the wrist? Is this another indicator of ethical problems within Fullerton cop culture?

We’ll never know.

October 7, 2011October 7, 2011Big Brother

Fullerton Police Beating Complaint “Sustained” by Internal Investigation; Officer Named.

by Travis250 Comments

Wow! Remember this story we posted way back on June 14th? It’s about a guy who claimed to have gotten physically assaulted by the FPD, who he says robbed him, and threw him in jail. Back in June this guy’s story was assaulted also, likely by the same goons who beat him up. Officer Cary Tong was identified as the culprit in the case, and, perhaps we should start including his name on the FPD Hall of Shame roster.

In light of all the horror stories that have emerged from the FPD dungeons since we posted this story, it seems more credible than ever. I wonder if all the trolls who tried the hair-splitting approach to discredit him are having second thoughts.

And I wonder if this guy has had the good sense to contact Garo Mardirossian.

– Joe Sipowicz

When we posted a college student’s allegations of police brutality last week, several commenters responded by calling the victim a liar and saying that the claim could not possibly be true.

Well, here is the truth according to FPD’s own Internal Affairs department: the complaint containing allegations of brutality and theft was “sustained” against FPD Officer Cary Tong.

Read the findings (pdf)

The letter from Chief Michael Sellers calls officer Tong’s actions “inappropriate and not within policy,” and states unequivocally that “a finding of sustained means that the evidence indicates that the complaint was well founded.“

Officer Cary Tong was listed as both the arresting and booking officer that night, putting him at the center of the entire event described by the victim in the complaint. That complaint included a long list of violent actions against the young man while he was handcuffed, including the deliberate breaking of his finger, theft of his personal cash and several beatings both at the arrest scene and during his booking at the jail.

The opaque and severely limited disclosures made in this non-public letter are a direct testament the police union’s lobbying power, which has fostered laws and an internal culture that encourages police departments to protect bad officers and keep their abuses secret from the public. In this case, we still don’t know if the officer was punished with a light slap on the wrist or even disciplined at all.

In all likelihood, Officer Tong is still patrolling the streets of Fullerton. Shoot, he might even pull you over tonight.

October 6, 2011October 6, 2011Dead heads

Fall Out of a Chair, Get a Tax Break. Bankhead Discovers “Chief’s Disease”

by Travis46 Comments

Some say Mayor Don Bankhead retired from the police force too early, unfortunately missing out on the last decade’s massive pension spikes that have driven modern public safety pensions well into six figures. As a result, Bankhead’s annual CalPERS pension is only $81,351.16, still about three times what the rest of us might be able to get from Social Security.

But Bankhead found another way to boost his pension. Through a series of dubious disability claims filed towards the end of his career, he was able to make at least 40% of his retirement tax-free. The injuries were allegedly suffered when Bankhead fell down some stairs and then later worsened when he fell out of a chair, according to this LA Times article from 1990.

View the article

“Chief’s Disease,” as these disability pension spikes are commonly called, were all the rage in law enforcement circles in the 80’s and 90’s. At one point, eighty percent of senior CHP retirees had curiously developed debilitating injuries in the last two years of service, which made up to 50% of their pensions tax-free for the rest of their lives.

So how much does Bankhead get tax-free? The city won’t tell us, and neither will CalPERS. Bankhead’s case file was recently destroyed by the workers’ comp court where his case was heard, and no journalists bothered to follow up on the story.

bankhead-party — In my day, we didn't have 3 at 50. We had to be creative.

One thing we do know: Bankhead didn’t “throw in the towel” due to alleged injuries. He quit after he had been passed over for the Police Chief job, and promptly announced his ambition to run for the Fullerton City Council. Then he tried (unsuccessfully) to run against Brad Gates for Orange County Sheriff.

That’s a lot of ambition for a guy who doesn’t pay his share of income taxes because he’s “totally disabled.”

October 6, 2011October 6, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Ex-Chief McKinley Unleashed Bad Cop

by Travis48 Comments

Just for those of you who mistakenly believe FFFF has only recently become interested in the doings and misdoings of our police force, here’s a post originally published October 7, 2009 – exactly two years ago, detailing the way in which the esteemed Pat McKinley molly-coddled the worst of his boys, who just happened to be President of the Fullerton Police Officer’s Association, the union that supports the councilmen cover-up artists Jones, Bankhead, and (surprise, surprise) Pat McKinley.The incidents described here took place six years ago, leading a reasonable person to infer that the culture of corruption cultivated by McKinley has deep roots, indeed.

Enjoy a blast from the past courtesy of the FFFF archives!

– Joe Sipowicz

Officer misconduct cases are usually handled behind closed doors, hidden away from the public who are ultimately the victims when cops go bad. Recently a document slipped out from underneath the curtain and gave us some insight into Chief McKinley’s department, which had a habit responding to officer misconduct by looking the other way and pressuring victims to stay silent — demonstrating brazen contempt for the rule of law.

Officers John Cross and Gregg Nowling were caught on tape in the 2005 beating of a young man who was pulled over for playing his music too loud. Fearing outrage, the department refused to release the recording to the public. Nowling resigned, but John Cross was the president of the Fullerton Police Officers Association (the union), so he decided to take his chances and ride out the punishment that was sure to be nothing more than a token admonishment from his friendly boss, Chief Patrick McKinley.

He's big. He's bad. He's baaaaack! — I'll just pretend I didn't see that.

John Cross should have been fired and sued, but a deal was allegedly struck with the victim in which charges would be dropped if the young man kept quiet. This allowed the department head to give Cross a mere slap on the wrist – a two step demotion in pay for the next two years.

When nobody was paying attention, Chief McKinley eliminated John Cross’ punishment one year early:

The record shows that almost immediately, John Cross began another series of disturbing actions that ultimately forced the department to fire him. The Council found one example most frightening – Officer Cross had covered up an incident involving a drunk off-duty sheriff who was brandishing his weapon in public. He also failed to follow up on a potential suicide when it was only a few doors down from his location. At least six of these events involved Cross’ turning off his audio recorder in violation of department policy.

There are plenty of other allegations of McKinley’s department looking the other way when incidents were perpetrated by those the department favored, and this is only one of the most severe. As one of our commenters said, McKinley’s game was played at the the expense of our community’s safety, peace, and tax dollars.

October 4, 2011October 4, 2011Law N Disorder

John and Ken Event Postponed, Chief Sellers Still Under the Weather

by Travis187 Comments

The recall targets have been given a temporary reprieve from John and Ken’s physical presence due to inclement weather. We’ll be rescheduling the event sometime after next week.

Meanwhile, City Hall is still being battered by the media storm of their own creation. Check out today’s news byte… apparently Chief Sellers’ medical leave is having hefty impact on Fullerton’s finances.

Still, $19,000 a month is chump change compared to the damage Chief McKinley’s wrecking crew did while Sellers watched safely from his office. As with many of his FPD cohorts, it’s just plain cheaper to keep him at home where he can’t hurt anybody.

September 29, 2011September 29, 2011Law N Disorder

Accused Murderer Bailed Out… By Fullerton Cops!

by Travis797 Comments

Accused murderer Manny Ramos was able to make bail early this morning, and KTLA says the fundraising was done by Ramos’ fellow Fullerton police officers.

One of our readers passed along this letter purportedly from FPD officer Benjamin Lira seeking donations to get Ramos out of jail. It was posted to the Big City Cops Facebook page, an online hangout for off duty cops.

Check out that nifty logo of the police group who was passing around the letter. I’m told that oderint dum metuant is Latin for “Let them hate so long as they fear.”

September 19, 2011September 19, 2011Fullerton School Board

FSD Forks Over $35k to Fired Lunch Lady

by Travis22 Comments

The Fullerton School District had the summer off while our attention was diverted to more important matters. Under that cover and with the convenient assistance of closed session, the Board handed a ridiculous $35,000 cash settlement (our money, not theirs) to a previously fired six-figure employee who didn’t like getting terminated.

Lisa Reynoso is an ex-Director of Nutrition Services who presumably neglected her job duties so badly that the district took on the daunting task of actually terminating her employment and replacing her with someone better.

The board had been wanting to fire Ms. Reynoso for years, but the first attempt at some sort of action in 2007 was overturned by the Personnel Commission, a crazy union invention in which a dubious mix of unelected and unaccountable bad-employee sympathizers actually have power above and beyond the school board itself.

Lisa Reynoso Settlement Agreement — An unsettling agreement

So the lunch lady’s tenure was extended by a few years, which was more than enough for her to earn herself another termination by doing something else bad. We don’t know what she did this time, but anyone who’s tried the meatloaf knows that the bar is pretty low in a grade school cafeteria.

Did the board take charge and let her go this time? No. Our spineless representatives took the easy way out and gave her a parting settlement instead. At the taxpayers’ expense, of course.

It’s lost on these unprincipled, short-sighted administrators that handing cash to an ex-employee who doesn’t deserve it only encourages future bad apples to pursue the same jackpot. Shampoo, rinse, repeat, waste money, hope nobody notices.

The scam was ultimately abetted by the spineless “ayes” of board members Bev Berryman, Janny Meyer and Hilda Sugarman in closed session, with Chris Thompson dissenting.

September 16, 2011September 19, 2011Law N Disorder

What Are We Expecting?

by Travis472 Comments

Update 2: An FPD officer told a Friend last night that the police were in fact gearing up for potential protests in response to the DA’s announcement, which is expected in this coming week.

-Travis

Update: Travis, I can’t believe the FPD would be stoopid enough to start a riot at a benefit for the homeless (still, I’m wondering if their dumbness even has a bottom level). I truly believe the protesters in from of PD HQ are getting into their little heads. Everyone make as much noise as you want but PLEASE stay on the sidewalk!

– Mr. Peabody

Today a helpful Friend snapped these photos of Fullerton police officers dusting up on their riot control skills and baton swinging techniques inside the walls of the FPD compound.

The timing is curious. There is a rock concert for Kelly Thomas on Saturday. And the DA has hinted that he may make a big announcement about the cops who killed Kelly Thomas as early as Monday.

Nearby residents say that riot training is not a common occurrence in the FPD parking lot.

I wonder what’s going on?

September 11, 2011September 11, 2011Law N Disorder

How Many Cops Does It Take to Bust a Honker?

by Travis281 Comments

Thanks to Mark for the footage.

September 9, 2011September 9, 2011Big Brother

OCTA Uncut

by Travis198 Comments

A month ago we posted the OCTA surveillance video that captured the immediate reaction of witnesses after the Kelly Thomas beating.

Here is the full video from OCTA Bus 5599’s DVR on July 5. Perhaps our more observant readers can glean new information from the 18 minute recording. As always, leave your observations in the comments section below.

Update: As suggested by EyeNeverSayNo, I ran the audio through a noise reducer to help clarify some of the conversation. That version of the video his here.

The video shows all seven cameras at once and is best viewed full screen at 720p.