Monday, January 25, 2010

City Council Votes NOT To See Jackson File

Charlotte City Council decided Monday that they didn't want to see former officer Marcus Jackson's personnel file.

City Manager Curt Walton has said he is against releasing the records, and the six council members voting against going into closed session essentially ends the issue.



Voting not to discuss Jackson's personnel record were council members Andy Dulin, Edwin Peacock, Patrick Cannon, James Mitchell, Patsy Kinsey and Warren Cooksey.

Chief Monroe declined to comment after the vote. He left the Government Center immediately and walked to police headquarters two blocks away. Asked by reporters if he had any comment, he said no as he stepped into an elevator.

Two weeks ago, council members voted 6-5 to review the file. But during tonight's scheduled meeting, some council members changed their minds.

Council member Warren Cooksey said he was against releasing the file because it would go against N.C. law and how the city has conducted business. "We have gained additional information in the last two weeks, both in public and in a variety of conversations" He said Monroe has assured him publicly and privately that CMPD has made reforms in its hiring procedures.

Morgan Fogarty at Fox News:

The black eye on the men and women in blue grows each day it seems. Ex-CMPD Officer Marcus Jackson indicted on four more charges on behalf of four women. Add those to the laundry list of charges he was indicted on last week. Mayor Anthony Foxx says, "I believe the police chief and city manager have done an inordinately good job letting the public know the facts."

But despite what appears to be growing evidence against the disgraced officer, city council voted, seven to three, to not even discuss releasing his personnel file; a file that could shed light on whether any early disciplinary problems were overlooked. Read the rest of the Fox News report here.

Cedar Says: Why am I not surprised?

Why would they not want to just view Jackson's personnel file in private?

The only conclusion based on Cooksey's comment is that Monroe contacted them privately and in the "conversations" Monroe asked them to leave the matter alone. Clearly there is something big in Jackson's file.

One can only assume that the file must implicate Rodney Monroe directly as there is no other reason not to even look at the file unless the file shows Monroe's involvement in Jackson's suspension, which in that case council would rather not know.

Expect a plea deal on the table and no jail time for Jackson as well as a big settlement to keep the file from being opened in court.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Must be some serious shit it that file!

el grande said...

I can only draw one of two conclusions:

1. Council members are hiding something

2. Council members are fools

Take your pick.

Anonymous said...

Cedar please make your next poll about City Council kissing RoMo Ass!

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised either.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Pattern and Practice", Cedar, the City DOES NOT WANT THAT TO COME OUT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM!!!!

January 25, 2010 4:58 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a freaking JOKE....City Council does not even hold the session, takes the cowards way out, and does not even look at the files.

If they looked at them, they would then have to make a decision regarding them.

If whomever has a copy of those files at CMPD does not release them to the media, I freaking give up.

I hope voters remember this lame ass decision by City Council when City Council is up for election.

I will do my part to make sure they remember this when these files are finally released and Curt Walton and Rodney Monroe are found to have conspired to have vital information that would affect the public kept quiet.

WHAT A COVER UP......what a cover up.

RODNEY MONROE IS GUILTY of not being truthful with the public.
Of not owning up to his part in allowing Marcus Jackson to continue to work at CMPD when he could have fired him while he was on probation.

If Marcus Jackson had been a white, male probationary officer and had TWO SUSPENSIONS, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN LET GO, INSTEAD OF HAVING ONE OF HIS SUSPENSIONS REDUCED. This is a fact, folks...

This is really unbelievable and a TOTAL COVER UP TO PROTECT CURT WALTONS ASS, AND RODNEY MONROES ASS.

Whoa, really...........?????

January 25, 2010 5:39 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This corrupt Police Chief once again skates on his misconduct.

I guess it is what someone said:
City Council hired Curt Walton.
Curt Walton hired Rodney Monroe.
Rodney Monroe is CORRUPT and Curt Walton does not want that to come out, as it will be his overpaid butt on the line.

This should not go away, folks,

Rodney Monroe should go away....

January 25, 2010 5:42 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cedar,

Even though Marcus is a PIG---He does deserve a fair trial. In the eyes of most Charlottean's (mine included), he is already guilty. Hearing PIG's voice on Channel 9 isn't going to do anything but make his right to a fair trial more difficult to achieve!

Unfortunately for Marcus, if he isn't guilty, he won't get a fair trial in Charlotte and his trial will be move somewhere else---costing the tax payers of Mecklenburg County MORE MONEY that we don't have!

I agree with Newbold on this one...Keep it for trial!

January 25, 2010 5:43 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Outrage, that is what people should be feeling right now, TOTAL OUTRAGE.

There is no way those files should not have been read by City Council....what a bunch of lily livered cowards, what an awful dereliction of duty, what a shameful way of handling this, by not handling it. This will come back to haunt them, trust me.

January 25, 2010 5:45 PM

Anonymous said...

Honestly, could they have been MORE blatant about "not wanting to dirty their hands" with this mess.

Inaction on something of this magnitude is inexcusable, inexcusable, Cedar.

They truly do not care what is going on at CMPD. And how that is impacting the City of Charlotte.

They really should be ashamed of themselves.

This is a COVER UP simply by their refusing to even look at the file.
IT MUST BE ONE HOT POTATO, BUT HOW WOULD THEY KNOW??

Do they really believe that the public and the employees of CMPD are that stupid??

They KNOW WHAT IS IN THAT FILE, CEDAR, THEY KNOW. AND THEY CHOSE TO IGNORE IT AND NOT GET INVOLVED. What were they elected to do?? REPRESENT THE PEOPLE and look out for them and their safety.
They are failing miserably.

Anyone that stands by and watches corruption take place and does nothing about it but burying their heads even further up their collective asses is JUST AS GUILTY as the one that is the corrupter. i.e., rodney monroe and ray/ray.

Now everyone at CMPD is even more sure what is in that file: rodney's
ineptitude and Curt's covering it up.

They both deserve to lose their jobs, as does City Council.

Anonymous said...

Those files should have been made public if for no other reason than to prevent this from happening again by exposing what really went on with rodney monroe.

If what really happened got out, it would mean the end of rodney's job and curt's job, which would prevent further situations.

But it will get out........

Anonymous said...

This is just bringing in more clouds of suspicion over CMPD and its leaders which they dont even deserve the title leaders.

This decision will hurt the police department for years and the trust that the citizens once had with the police department.

Monroe you are a coward. You have done nothing but give this department a black eye since you walked through the doors.

You know LAPD had a chief that reduced violent crime all over the city and gang violence years ago and look what happened with the PD. They have been viewed as one of the most corrupt police departments in the country for a while there. CONGRATULATIONS CHARLOTTE YOU ARE ALLOWING SOMEONE TO TURN THIS ONCE HONORABLE POLICE DEPARTMENT INTO A DISGRACEFUL SHADY POLICE DEPARTMENT.

Anonymous said...

I use to be proud to say I was a police officer with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. Now I don't even bring it up because if you do everyone wants to talk about the chief and how they are hiring just anybody these days.

Anonymous said...

Now that City Council has begun the cover up of THE SMOKING GUN, things will only get worse.

They are now PART OF THE OFFICIAL COVER UP.

I can see them, personally, being named in a lawsuit.

This decision is just unconscionable.
It SCREAMS corruption now at the highest level of city government.

It just makes you wonder who is scratching who's back and why?

For Political Collateral?

So they won't look like the absolute know nothings that they are?

TRUTH is, there is NO GOOD REASON THAT THOSE FILES COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MADE PUBLIC, EXCEPT THAT THERE IS SOMETHING IN THEM THAT WOULD MAKE CURT WALTON, RODNEY MONROE, AND CITY COUNCIL RESPONSIBLE FOR LETTING MARCUS JACKSON KEEP HIS JOB AS LONG AS HE DID. THEY KNOW THERE ARE REASONS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED, THEY ARE IN THE FILE.

What a travesty, what a miscarriage of justice even at this level.

Not one of them should keep their set on City Council.

The only one that didn't back down, it seems, is Foxx.....he's a sly one!

Anonymous said...

You better believe that rodney has been working his limited charm on the members of City Council.

He has been lobbying hard, from what I have heard.

If City Council had looked at the file and seen the truth about rodney's involvement in Jackson's suspensions, then they would have been left NO CHOICE but to fire him and Curt Walton. If they had looked at the file, that would have been seen as a vote of no confidence in rodney monroe.

So, once again, rodney monroe has gotten away with unethical behavior in order to save the political hides of City Council and to save the city from even more involvement and MONEY in any
upcoming lawsuits.

One could only hope against hope that is was a quid pro quo: City Council doesn't look at the file, rodney agrees to quietly resign sooner rather than later.

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS by not even looking at the file, they have confirmed that what they contained was not only damaging to Jackson, but to rodney monroe thusly curt walton and city council. That file is going to become the smoking gun in any lawsuits that result from marcus jackson. At least, now, I'm sure they, city council, can rest easier knowing that their lack of action will save their butts from being called as witnesses, etc. in any resulting lawsuits. No involvement equals no involvement.

We should all be hanging our heads in shame at the behavior of our ELECTED OFFICIALS on City Council.
They have shown their real agendas with this one lack of action on this matter.
Now I am going to tell each member of city council what I think.

Anonymous said...

Council knows that RoMo gave Jackson a break. RoMo should have fired Jackson after the Mint Hill attack but since it wasn't in Charlotte RoMo looked the other way.

Council knows that firing RoMo will get the NAACP up in arms and letting the Jackson file go public would get the public up in arms so with a lose lose on the table they choose to do nothing.

Just freaking stupid!

Anonymous said...

Council knows that RoMo gave Jackson a break. RoMo should have fired Jackson after the Mint Hill attack but since it wasn't in Charlotte RoMo looked the other way.

Council knows that firing RoMo will get the NAACP up in arms and letting the Jackson file go public would get the public up in arms so with a lose lose on the table they choose to do nothing.

Just freaking stupid!

Anonymous said...

Cedar you are so right Jackson holds all the face cards now. RoMo Clown Curt, Kooksey.... he's got them all.

He'll get off Scot Free!

JAT said...

So very sad.

Detroit-on-the-Catawba here we come.

Anonymous said...

JAT,
I so agree with you.

But more than sad, it is corrupt.

I don't think there is ANYONE that can be trusted to do the right thing.

They are all so busy covering their political butts they are running scared in a straight line AWAY from this abysmal mess.

Way to go City Council, way to stand up for honesty, transparency, integrity and ethics.
Way to go.

Anonymous said...

The really are a bunch of spineless
politicos, right?

And Rodney and Curt are making them dance like marionettes.

What a godawful mess they are making out of CMPD, and as a result, Charlotte.

Seeing the lack of judgment illustrated by rodney in these files could have finally gotten out to the public what is really going on at CMPD.

Wake up City Council, wake up.....rodney is totally ineffectual as a "leader" at CMPD, he is truly a LAME ASS DUCK.

Anonymous said...

Just read Andy Dulins email to Jeff Taylor over at the Meck Deck.

Andy Dulin what a tool!

Does he really think any of this will come out at trial?

Charlotte is screwed if it does.

This case (as CP has been saying) has failure to supervise written all over it.

Get ready to hand it over taxpayers!

Anonymous said...

"Council knows that firing RoMo will get the NAACP up in arms and letting the Jackson file go public would get the public up in arms so with a lose lose on the table they choose to do nothing."

NAACP should already be up in arms- this is making the African American leaders look corrupt the NAACP should be here demanding Romo's resignation and The fedarl Gov't should be looking at this as well- no one in City Council is going to be straight and own up to their major F!ck up by hitring Walton and approving Romo and everything that has proceeded since.
Hey Cedar Post why don't you do a story on why teh NAACP isn't getting involved?? If the Chief was white or Jackson was white all hell would be breakiing loose..There wouldnt be a cover up there would be a hanging...

Anonymous said...

If the SBI AND/OR THE FBI aren't looking into all of this, then someone is truly asleep at the wheel.

There have been so many violations during rodney's regime I can't imagine where they would start.

I agree, Dulin is a TOOL, as is PEACOCK, well, okay, they ALL are clueless.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I want to be the chief of police! I got my GED and I am working on my last course at the California school of art,bookkeeping dental assistant and police adminstration.
I have been looking at Rodney Monroe as a role model,and I hope to follow in his footsteps.I have spent almost 3 months on my degree and I will make a real good chief