Category: Union Goons

Posted onSetting The Bar Low

A Case of Mistaken Identity? Yeah, Right.

by 69 Comments on A Case of Mistaken Identity? Yeah, Right.

This image was included in a story at Fullerton Stories here and purports to be a 2009 police booking photo of recent Fullerton homicide victim Kelly Thomas that was, presumably, provided by the ever helpful FPD spokehole Andrew Goodrich. Well, this is certainly a scary looking dude: pretty buff and mangy, and sufficiently angry-looking to scare the good folks of Fullerton right back into complacency about the homicide of a mentally-ill homeless man.

The only trouble is that it isn’t Kelly Thomas at all. His parents say this isn’t their son. But we don’t need their expert opinion. Apart from a large nose that is completely different from every other picture of Thomas, Kelly’s hair was flaming red, a simple fact illustrated in every other picture of him in the Fullerton Stories piece.

My powers of observation are really stunning. And if you don't agree I'll have you stunned.

So what gives? Is this just a cheapjack trick by Goodrich & Co. to degrade the victim by presenting Kelly Thomas as a surly, muscular threat to Fullerton’s delicate residents? If so, the Fullerton Police Department has actually hit a new low, and given recent events that’s pretty goddam hard for them to do. But it’s just when you think you’ve hit the FPD basement you find out there are even lower levels.

I will await a comical explanation from the Good Sergeant Goodrich, but of course I won’t be holding my breath.

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Posted onChronic Failure

Go Home or Go To Jail

by 124 Comments on Go Home or Go To Jail

Awhile back Grover Cleveland posted on how the Fullerton City Council’s creation of a mess downtown led to the rise of an FPD goon squad to quell the crime wave. The only problem was that the FPD goon squad added to the crime wave. Here’s a reminder. An innocent bystander is beat up and arrested. Later he is tried for assaulting a cop to which Fullerton cops Kenton Hampton and Framk Nguyen swear in a court of law. Only problem is it didn’t happen, but that didn’t stop the FPD and the DA from trying to put an innocent man in prison.

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Posted onBoohooism

“Joel Swintowski”: Who is He? What Is He Promoting?

by 22 Comments on “Joel Swintowski”: Who is He? What Is He Promoting?

The other day FFFF received this rather odd comment on the blog:

“Thanks for risking your lives so that my family and I can enjoy OURS!”
– Joel Swintowski

There were links to a website here that sported an official-looking letter from Fullerton’s police officer’s union president, Barry Coffman asking for money. There was the quote from Mr. Swintowski, clearly implying that he supports the Fullerton police union.

I got to wondering who this Joel Swintowski person might be. I never heard of him. So last night I contacted our FFFF  investigative team of people-finders and guess what they came up with? There’s no such registered voter in Fullerton or in all of Orange County with any such name.

But, as they say on TV infomercials: Wait! There’s more! I also found a host of identical websites for police unions across California with the same quote from this “Joel Swintowski” guy. Clearly this operation is a money gathering scheme organized by some entity and then sold to police unions throughout the state like this one in Menlo Park, probably with a hefty cut taken from proceeds collected from unsuspecting suckers.

Now back to Fullerton. Coffman says it’s a “donation” that he’s begging. The request for money states: “Your contribution to us today will help provide outreach and strengthen relations by and between the FPOA and several local worthy groups and charities.”

Now we know the FPOA spends tens of thousands of dollars trying to get right-thinking people elected to the Fullerton City Council. And by right-thinking, I mean “public safety” union stooges who will raise their pensions and lower their retirement age.  Do any of these “contributions” find their way into political activity? Could be. They are not tax deductible – the kind of deduction you get making a contribution directly to a real charity, eliminating the pistol-packin’ middleman.

So who might some of these “worthy” recipients be? Any guesses?

Could they include the campaigns of the same two guys, Bankhead and McKinley, who are getting prepared to raise your water rates 91% so they can use a portion of that money to support their own plush $McMillion retirement plans?

Maybe it’s time for an IRS audit of this solicitation for alms. Maybe the State AG needs to be called in, again. You know, just to make sure it’s legit.

And in the meantime maybe it’s time for FPOA to find a real Fullerton resident for its self-promotional testimonials.

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Posted onSetting The Bar Low

A Major Problem in Fullerton

by 19 Comments on A Major Problem in Fullerton
Image stolen from the Register who borrowed it from the OC Sheriff Department

Today The OC Register (see Jim, we know how to do it right) did a story on former Fullerton policeman Todd Majors who was busted for credit card fraud and is doing easy time taking out trash at Theo Lacy and going home every night.

Of course we already reported about Majors, here. Kimberly Edds of The Register actually did do some investigation to discover that Major allegedly has an addiction to pills and was hired by the Fullerton Police Department even though he had a drunk driving bust. Supposedly his drug addiction caused him to lurch into a life of crime.

Writes Edds: While internal affairs continued its investigation, Fullerton police asked themselves whether they missed any signs about Major or how they could have done to prevent a good cop from becoming a criminal.

Well, I sure hope they figure that out real soon.

Edds’ story concluded with the obligatory police cry for sympathy for one of their own – as some sort of pathetic victim.

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Posted onSetting The Bar Low

Another Bad Apple Falls From Tree: Fullerton Cop Goes to Jail for Robbing the City

by 112 Comments on Another Bad Apple Falls From Tree: Fullerton Cop Goes to Jail for Robbing the City

In what appears to be a rising tide of embarrassing news personnel-wise, the Fullerton Police Department has a new case of Bad Cop to explain to the public.

Fullerton police officer Todd Major plead guilty this month to fraudulent use of an access card and felony grand theft of money and property belonging to the City of Fullerton. Major is now serving out his 6 month sentence in the Theo Lacy County Jail with three years of probation to follow.

Todd Major

Major was a sworn police officer at the time of the theft, earning $90,000 a year in the Community Services Bureau. His case was prosecuted by the big boys at the State Attorney General’s office.

The plea deal included the dropping of additional charges indicating that Major also stole from the Fullerton Car Show, two Troy High School administrators,  eleven Fullerton Police Explorers, and the Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons supermarkets.

Read the charges (pdf)

At this time we don’t know what this convicted cop stole or how he stole it. Due to the union’s fierce protection of bad cops, we also aren’t entitled to know if he was fired or how much paid leave he received before he went to jail.

Anyone with more information on these crimes is invited to contact this blog.

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Posted onThe Crime Beat

FPD Sticky Fingers in Miami: The Case of the Stolen iPad

by 52 Comments on FPD Sticky Fingers in Miami: The Case of the Stolen iPad

All sorts of interesting stories have been coming in since we exposed the affirmation of beating and theft allegations against a Fullerton police officer last week. Here’s the first one:

Last month an off-duty Fullerton police officer was allegedly captured on video at a Florida airport making off with an Apple iPad belonging to another passenger while going through a security checkpoint. The officer was supposedly identified on security footage, hunted down just before boarding, arrested and charged with 3rd degree Grand Theft.

In Florida, Grand Theft is a felony punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison.

We’ll sit tight on the officer’s name until we can finish gathering up the details. For now, consider this a warning to iPad owners in Fullerton: hold on to your goods when the Law is nearby.

For all the lavish compensation bestowed upon Fullerton’s Finest, you’d think we’d be able to avoid hiring of such low caliber cops. But the more we look, the more this seems to be par for the course for the FPOA.

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