Few people outside of law enforcement, understood that the CDIA police reported to Jerry Orr and have done so for as long as the Airport Police have existed. ( A Cedar Posts follower notes that CDIA Officer actually reported to a CMPD Captain. While true Orr still had absolute control over the CDIA Police) This fact, apparently annoyed Chief Monroe and a turf war had been raging since Chief Monroe came to power in 2008.
When Delvonte Tisdale breached the airport perimeter in 2010, the turf war escalated with Chief Monroe claiming that the CDIA police were grossly unqualified and poorly trained. The turf war finally came to a close when then City Manager Kurt Walton gave control of the CDIA Police to CMPD, with the City Council's blessing on December 15, 2012.
The turf war over the CDIA Police is what led to the airport battle still raging between factions of State and Local elected officials and caused the resignation or firing of long time airport manager Jerry Orr.
Once in control of CDIA Police, Chief Monroe's reign of terror was on, his first steps in dismantling the CDIA Police, was to declare that all CDIA officers would be merged into CMPD with retaining their full, "rank, salary longevity and benefits". Three weeks later Chief Monroe required that all CDIA be re-sworn, which was completed in January of 2013.
Shortly after these officers were sworn, Chief Monroe's department started to walk back the prior commitments by deciding that all CDIA Officers would be required to apply to CMPD, pass all background checks, physical standards and complete training at the police academy.
Chief Monroe's tactics and every changing requirements disrupted the personal lives of a dozen officers, who lost rank, seniority, civil service job protection and other rights. Turmoil was wide spread as CMPD Officers roamed aimlessly around the airport without purpose or direction and CDIA Officers sat huddled in their offices shaking their heads.
Enter the case of Mazzeo v. City Of Charlotte No. COA13-1388
Officer Dominick Mazzeo was hired as a CDIA Airport Safety Officer "ASO" in 2007. Oddly enough even though CDIA Police were autonomous, annual Performance Reviews and Development assessments known as "PDR's" were signed by CMPD supervisors.
Officer Mazzeo's reviews appear to support the claim that he was an exemplary officer. Never the less, Officer Mazzeo was terminated in June of 2013 and was later told he didn't have a right to a civil service board hearing because he was a probationary employee despite the verbal promises given by CMPD command.
Weeks later a trial court ruled that Mazzeo was entitled to a civil service board hearing. Of course Chief Monroe appealed. Then on August 5, 2014 the North Carolina Court of Appeals delivered a victory for Officer Mazzeo and many other CDIA Officers.
"We hold that the trial court's conclusion of law is supported by its findings of fact. The trial court's findings established that: (1) Plaintiff retained his same rank, badge number, employee identification number, and salary after the consolidation; (2) Plaintiff took identical oaths of office both upon his initial hiring in 2007 and after the consolidation in 2012; (3) from the time he was originally assigned to the CDIA until the date of his dismissal, Plaintiff had his PRDs reviewed and signed by supervising officers of the CMPD; and (4) the City contributed to his law enforcement 401k account in the same amount both before and after the consolidation."
The ruling is expected to have far reaching impact on many of the former CDIA Officers in support of the numerous civil suits and actions pending over the merger of CDIA and CMPD Officers.
You can read the entire court opinion affirming the lower courts decision and denying the City of Charlotte and CMPD's appeal here.
46 comments:
How about probe a little more and get rid of this disease!
There is no way out for CMPD now. All of the deputy chiefs involved are sure to be sweating. Depositions are sure to come.
Famous quotes, recorded and documented.
Monroe: "You are all welcomed to the CMPD family."
Putney: "I dare anyone to challenge us."
Graue: "You don't deserve to wear that uniform."
Levins: "Not only should they not being making as much (airport officers), the CMPD officer's workimg out here should have taken pay cuts."
This is great news for the guys out there. I actually worked with Mazzeo when I was out at the airport a few years ago. Yes, he is definitely an outstanding officer as this story and his performance reviews say.. I'm still wondering why ol RoMo canned him....
his firing was bs, everyone here knows it.
This is how is began with Nixon, just a small event, no one paid any attention to. Two reporters banging out a story that ended up of page 23. Buried in the back of the Washington Post.
Thank you Cedar for posting this.
I'm glad that SORRY BLACK ASS Rodney Monroe is getting a taste of his own medicine. It is about time, that he got his own black racist ass dick stepped on. Hopefully his time will be coming soon enough and that some more investigations will be forth coming. With all that he has been doing to disrupt CMPD.
There no longer is no back up with the officers. They all are looking out for themselves. I would really enjoy Katrina Graue and Eddie Levins getting there just deserts. Along with the rest of the so called command staff and including those officers in Internal Affairs.
Nobody has said why they let this officer go, but given the way they are trying to bust the 40 existing officers down to security guards, take away their certification and other dirty games they are trying to play I am guessing it was something bogus. Can't wait to see how this plays out. Wonder if the citizens will know how Rotney is wasting tax payers money on this power game???
You said it.... only in government is this type of crap tolerated and celebrated. In the private sector, Rodney would have been given his friggen walking papers by now!
Hey Cedar, You misspoke on the second paragraph.. CDIA police never answered to Jerry Orr, that is incorrect. We have always answered to a CMPD Captain since 2004!
No longer 40 "airport officers" most have quit or legitimately "transferred" to CMPD. I think the number is down to 12 or so now. The rest are CMPD officers.
The Airport Officers filed a lawsuit and CMPD's answer was to fire them. Huge Constitutional Rights violation. It is called retaliation. The airport officers are going to get paid. Thanks Rodney!
Anon @ 8:51 nah, they fired him before the law suit but they've done nothing but mess with him and other officers who don't drink RoMo's Kool-Aid. They certainly fired the wrong one... Mazzeo won't go down without a fight.
But yeah, theres only a few left from the original CDIA crew... the rest is all geriatric CMPD burn outs who shuck calls and hide in the break room all day long.
Anon @ 8:51 nah, they fired him before the law suit but they've done nothing but mess with him and other officers who don't drink RoMo's Kool-Aid. They certainly fired the wrong one... Mazzeo won't go down without a fight.
But yeah, theres only a few left from the original CDIA crew... the rest is all geriatric CMPD burn outs who shuck calls and hide in the break room all day long.
So from reading the court of appeals ruling it sounds as though the city of charlotte swore the airport officers in with the same oath of office as CMPD officers all along over the years; CMPD supervised them; and provided them their yearly in service training. The city even provided the airport officers the same "police 401k" contribution all cmpd officers receive as well. Long story short: if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it's a duck, even if considered the ugly duckling.
Anon 9:01, I was referring to CMPD trying to make Airport Officers security guards after they filed the original suit. Security guards...too funny. Nice try Rodney, Katrina, Kerr, Eddie.
If I was an airport officer I would not go back to mediation. I would demand a trial.
Now that it is case law thanks to our elected nc court of appeal judges CMPD would be stupid not to settle with these folks.
the problem is that CMPD & the City ARE that stupid. They have allowed Monroe to lie to them, to the public, and now (newly proven) to his own people. He does it to cover up his own corruption and cover corruption by selected personnel.
The smart, hard-working, truthful and brave officers suffer for the slew of stupid, corrupt, lying officers who are guilty and who are protected by Monroe and the do-nothing city council who knowingly goes along with it.
Anon 12:23. Really? For years now that all we've heard about this or that being the beginning of the end for Rodney and crew. Then crickets. The city will settle and this will go away just like everything else until the next brew-up and then you can post again about all the depositions and perp walks getting ready to happen.
anon 1:13 --- you're right, but if officers en masse spoke up and provided documents or notes about actions taken or recordings that would be proof, then something would happen. everyone sits in their own world and won't come forward, then bitches about why "nobody" will do anything to stop him. the people with the information are police officers.
To 2:25 ; the problem as I see it is poor management is not a crime. There will be no dispositions, hearings, etc. everyone who thinks so is delusional. I agree that over the past several years , CMPD has been mislead and mismanaged. Incompetents and sycophants have been promoted to the highest level and CMPD will suffer because of it for years.
Piss poor management....but not a crime.
There will be depositions because there will be a trial. CMPD will never settle for what is fair and right.
So can all the current and former airport safety officers sue the city for not being included in the public safety plan since that pay plan inception? Are the former airport safety officer supervisors - lt then sgt - entitled to that pay classification? Are the safety officers who have been fired over the years or disciplined entitled to civil service reviews that the airport hr manager not afford to them? All questions that should be looked into now.
perjury is a crime.
lying about crime statistics is a crime--it's public corruption.
ask cannon if public corruption is a crime.
covering up crimes by police officers is a crime.
misuse of public funds is a crime.
giving public money to your buddies under false pretense is a crime.
destroying evidence of crimes is a crime.
retaliation against people who try to investigate corruption is a crime.
knowingly hiring people who are psychologically unfit to be in a position of power, a la marcus jackson--and helping cover up the evidence of this--is a crime.
there's a much longer list. but why don't you think there are crimes being committed in addition to piss poor management (which is also happening)?
Rodney is corrupt and this case proves it, Ray Charles could see this one.. Look at the pattern, once he had his foot in the door he starts turning up the heat which caused most of the officers either to lateral or jump ship. The ones that didn't, ROMO threw overboard.
When Monroe gets charged criminally, I'll admit I am wrong.....gladly. Till then, I see piss poor mamagement.
A lot of p.p.m. , but not criminal. .
New point in case and hopefully this will come back on the detectives that should have been investigating the crime. The North Tryon Division officer who was have sex with a family member under age. Plus his wife having knowledge of these actions. It's amazing how the investigation just stopped all of a sudden. Let's see what happens next.
I'm thinking Rodney is somehow mixed in with this Patrick Cannon thing..... this whole story smells of corruption.
What a couple of idiots!
To 3:51 : Please learn how to write. Your grammar and sentence structure is awful. CMS graduate ?
CMPD has done nothing but lie to us from day one, and who suffers? The citizens, the airport and airport businesses. Before the merger, the police budget at the airport was 2.1 million and we were also dual certified as EMT's, now the police budget is 5.5 million and the police are told to do less and not to respond to medical calls for service. SO, this means US Airways and other tenants are paying MORE for police services but getting LESS.
So what's next? Now that case law has been established showing the airport officers are NO different from Cmpd officers will this finally get things settled? I know their duties are different than a typical beat cop but so are the duties of say a secondary employment officer or a south division officer or an officer assigned to the rtcc or an officer assigned to any other "easy" position. Point is the city chose to have the airport officers take the same oath of office as cmpd officers for decades however pay them less and keep them from getting civil service protections. The city chose to have them trained and supervised by cmpd since 2004. The city chose all this. Sometimes we have to own our choices even if they are bad choices. Please just settle this by putting the self righteousness aside and deal with it. More cmpd officers are getting charged with crimes than ever b4. No airport officer has been charged with any of the horrendous crimes cmpd officers have done. Yet cmpd thinks they are above us.
Can someone tell us about captain poston and why he hates the airport officers on 3rd shift? I know he is a rookie captain but last week when he referred to us as you airport officers during his temper tantrum on freedom conference. He Made a complete ass of himself like a little girl. Can't wait to hear him cry about us again keep it up we love to make fun of you!
Other "easy" positions u forgot training academy staff, crime prevention, community service, abc, basically any position outside of patrol. Please tell me how they do more work than airport officers? Just leave the airport officers alone and just accept them for who they are. Please end thus bickering!
Anon: August 11, 2014 at 7:58 AM
Fuck You. Who gives a fuck about my sentence structure and grammer. Who made you an English major? You worry about trival shit and should worry about other things that what I type. You must be a ROMO follower with the golden knee pads.
To 2:27.... UNC made me an English Major ,so thanks for noticing. Your grammar is still horrible. Maybe people would take you seriously if you could string a couple of coherent sentences together. Who said I was affiliated with CMPD?
Cedar, do some research.. The airport officers never worked for Jerry Orr aka The Crypt Keeper. We have always answered to and were supervised by CMPD captains, not that crusty old man.
6:48 man, way to early for this. OK CDIA Officer reported to CMPD whatever her name was and someone else. But everything I hear is that Jerry Orr called the shots, on what areas to patrol, what areas not to patrol. Staffing, cars, weapons, dogs, the whole mess. Security fell under his control, even if the Officers reported to CMPD.
Yes? or No?
Yeah, I guess in that sense your right Cedar. It is the same as ROMO answering to city council or the mayors office though.. But in the same way a councilman, city manager or mayor won't directly tell a CMPD officer what to do, in the same regard Jerry Orr didn't come out of his coffin to tell us what to do either... just behind the scenes politics I guess.
Jerry Orr was firmly in charge of EVERYTHING at CDIA! Including the officers..... Yes, there has always been a CMPD Captain directly in charge of the officers assigned there but he/she also served at the leisure of Jerry. That was the politics of that particular position.
Whether Jerry Orr, CMPD or both working together, the Airport Officer were City of Charlotte Police Officer with the same benefits and a shitty pay scale because the City could always get away with it until the Airport Officer united and pushed back. I hope everyone is paying attention. The Airport Officer and going to get what they want.
All I know is, a) Jerry Orr needed to go and the airport police were way understaffed in his administration, and b) CMPD should have merged with Airport PD and put a properly staffed police division (60-plus officers) out there, and c) Airport police were fucked-over in the transition, and d) should have been like the city-county merger.....where say a 20-year airport police sergeant makes what a 20-year CMPD sergeant makes....and if that means a raise, then so be it, and e) CMPD butchered the merger by staffing retired reservists with part time pay out there instead of a staffing makeup commedmurate with a regular patrol division. Damn....hope I got my a, b, c, d etc. Straight. Damned smart phone screen!
Anon 752, well said.
I know this is changing the subject, but I have to ask. Why did they release the name of the poor officer who shot the thug in Mo.? With all of the rioting, this seemed like a stupid thing to do. The officer was already under enough stress. Well, I want to say thank you to the officer, for taking care of the that thug. At least the public will not have to worry about him (the kid that got shot) causing anymore problems. Family members who live out there have been saying for a while at how bad the crime was getting and that police officers were becoming over whelmed by so many gangs and thugs.
Anon 1242, I like how the media puts this 300 pounder in his graduation cap as if he is a child. Awesome CNN.
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