KERRICK CASE EXPOSES A DIVIDE WITHIN CMPD
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Chief Kerr Putney is working to repair a rift with officers angry over the department’s handling of Randall “Wes” Kerrick, the white officer accused of killing an unarmed black man.
Putney has spoken with officers since Judge Robert Ervin last week declared a mistrial. The jury deadlocked 8-4 to acquit the officer of voluntary manslaughter.
A Fraternal Order of Police leader, Kerrick’s attorney, a member of Charlotte City Council and others told the Observer that Putney is aiming to restore fractured relations between officers and commanders.
Some officials believe a majority of officers disagree with top administrators about the shooting and believe Kerrick took reasonable action to protect himself.
Those officers accuse then-Chief Rodney Monroe and command staff of a rush to judgment on Kerrick and misleading them about his quick arrest. Investigations into officer-involved shootings and other use of force can take weeks or months. But CMPD arrested Kerrick less than a day after he shot Jonathan Ferrell in a northeast Mecklenburg County neighborhood in 2013.
“Once you saw the evidence, you knew they (top CMPD officials) were not truthful,” said Hagler, a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer who now heads law enforcement for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. “This is going to be an interesting time for CMPD. Chief Putney has a difficult task. He has been dealt a tough hand by his predecessor.” The rest of the Observer article is here. Cedar's Take: The dashcam video that Chief Monroe claimed was so damning, and the attorney for the Ferrell family (Joey Chestnut), claimed to show Ferrell with "his hands up" pleading for his life, was neither. After weeks of testimony the evidence turned out to be largely inconclusive, except the video which showed a suspect charging towards off camera police officers, became the primary reason 8 of 12 jurors voted for acquittal. But trial exposed more than fractured relations between command and boots on the street. It uncovered a massive fraud engineered by Rodney Monroe that centered on advancing his own personal agenda no matter what the cost to training, officer safety, morale or the truth.
56 comments:
The blood of Ferrell is on one persons hands- Chief Rodney. If he had trained his officers in a more professional manner, this case would never have happened.
Instead of resources going towards training, he was concerned with the number of stars of his sleeve, his fake degree that would have gotten any white man fired, driving the racist Dr Leake around, spending tax money on hotel rooms downtown for only God knows why, and worsely, allowing cheating at the training acadamey.
Yet the Observer never called this clown out once. Only Larson from WBT has the guts to shine the light on this fool who divided our community, and basically stole from the taxpayers.
Ain't it great living in the new diverse city, where even the Council members can outwardly express their racsism under the cover of the Observer, and your achievements mean less than the color of your skin.
Fake degrees??? Who cares if you're black.
Only a black man can police the black man for he truly understands their plight:
Only a black man can teach black children for he truly understands their plight:
Only blacks can govern other blacks for they only truly understand their plight:
A dirty black man is better than a clean white man any day of the week.
Yeah Potentate Putney is doing a bang up job bringing the department back together. What's this I hear about a black detective who was written up for truthfulness and then the Potentate told IA to drop the whole thing and removed all record of it because their frat brothers??
Or hiring back his mistress and after a few months in patrol, she gets a specialized assignment. Yea nothing has changed. Same old bullshit from a stuffed white shirt.
I find it interesting that during the media blitz yesterday and today, no one seemed to have asked questions concerning what was told to the officers after Officer Kerrick was arrested. This appears to be the catalyst that is causing the unrest among the rank and file, and should be if what they were told was an outright lie. Was command staff given specific talking points as to what to say? What did command staff tell the officers? Surely someone remembers. Maybe this question should have been put before Chief Putney by these journalists: Did command staff members talk to the rank and file officers, about the circumstances and/or probable cause for arresting Officer Kerrick, during roll calls, or other meetings, and if so, what was said to justify Officer Kerrick's arrest? Seems pretty straight forward to me.
Uh, Rodney and Smathers stood up in front of a packed auditorium at the academy and said that Ferrell had his hands up and posed no threat to Kerrick and he overreacted and shot him and then afterwards could not explain why he shot. This narrative continued as presented by a majority of command staff. To their credit though...a lot of them were not shown the video and just went by the narrative passed on to them by executive staff. One good thing by the FOP seems to be that they got that ass Walther off the air and got Randy back to speaking.
At 11:06
Thanks for the reply. I believe it is time for those that spread the lies to step up and say they were wrong. Will not happen though.
I am also pretty certain that Officers were told, regarding Kerrick's Arrest, that he never once claimed that his feared for his life.
Which we now know is also a lie considering his interviews at the time of the incident were played for the jury.
Get ready to write a big check Charlotte... My boy Wes is fixing to get paid!
He is not being retried! Thank God....taxes will be going up because if he does not cash in like BIG MOMMA dressed in her expensive purple hats and dresses every day at the trial, then a GoFundMe should be set up....for him, but we all know George L. is probably at the courthouse filing the papers as I type this and GOOD FOR HIM!
Such bullshit....the Kerricks lives are changed forever....
Isn't lying during an investigation a firing offense according to CMPD policy? If so what happens to the commanders that lied to the troops?
Maybe Potentate Putney erased everything for their IA files like he does for some detectives?? And it's only lying if you're being axed a pacific question and then you lie about it. Spouting untruths about various things is ok. And besides, when it's command staff that does it, it is because they misspoke or were misinformed of the facts. Only patrol people lie.
Even this past week Putney said that Kerrick should have been charged. Obviously the State of North Carolina does not agree. Where does that leave officer's when needing the support of their command? Putney agreed with the charges then and he believes it now. He will never get this department back. Great chief's interview process Charlotte (or lack thereof). You nailed it again.
Don't forget about Andrew Murray and his staff. They had the final say in charging Officer Karrick then bailed out stating they couldn't be involved due to a conflict of interest stating he used to work with George Laughren, but he has prosecuted other cases against officers that George has represented. I call bull crap on that one too.
Like everyone else, I remember being lied to at roll call. Like most, I chose to believe my command staff. I believed them because they were cops, because I wanted to believe that those who chose to be in charge had my best interest at heart. This is why I, and others are upset. My command lied to me.......cops lied to me. For what??? I'll never know because "they" will remain silent.
Hey advisory committee, here's a topic for your next meeting:
You placed your own officer in an interview room, reserved for criminals, for hours while still wearing a bloody uniform. You sicked your Detectives on him to trump up charges, Wes clearly articulated the use of deadly force, and you found someone to sign warrants. Then you lied to your lowly patrol officers. Now how do you plan to unfuck this? There's your next topic. I don't give a shit about creating more CSOs or any of that other shit until THAT question is answered........and about the frat bro detective.......just keep an eye on the next few "Personnel Actions" emails, particularly the employee transfer list.......
#paywesbitches!!!!!
Putney does not have a snow ball chance in hell in fixing CMPD. Monroe has already placed the wedge between white and black. He is a bold face liar like Monroe. Hopefully the channel 9 reporter didn't believe a word of tbat shit he was shoveling.
12:13. Excellent comment. The fact that so many in the command staff sold their souls to Monroe and his brand of "management " does not bode well for the future of CMPD. Too many synchophants were promoted. Integrity is a thing of the past. I doubt it can be fixed and I am 99.9% sure Putney is not the person to do it,
Like I said before a few weeks ago...all the command staff that lied to the troops or helped to propogate the lie without verifying should turn in their badges and just resign...forget retirement they don't deserve it. That includes SMATHERS, GRAUE, PUTNEY, LESTER, and about 20 others. Bet you none of those has the morals to do the right thing. That what they get for having their heads so far up ROMOS ASS that they can see his esophagus. Not much light up there guys, is there?
Oh yea while I am on my rant...go fuck yourself ROMO...
7:27 excellent post also. This probably would have never happened. Let's say it would have never happened if city council, would have done a through check before hiring King Rodney to the position of chief. Plus all the unhanded things he did and how all of it was swept under the rug. Then also how it never happened in their own little perfect community.
12:13...the transfer lists for the frat bro? Does this mean if you're untruthful and can't testify in fed court anymore you're ok to testify in state court? Aren't you still deemed untruthful even if your frat bro hid the investigation??
Who is this frat bro that keeps getting mentioned?
After everything that has happened the only way I make sense of it is that RoMo and his crew resolved that they had to QUICKLY charge lest the SBI come sniffing around their sideways operation.
Maybe the detective wasn't untruthful and he just relayed different versions of the same event which was corroborated by someone who wasn't there. Putney saw that it was just his racist supervisors making something of nothing and did away with it.
Hey 2:15....what Omega chapter were you?
He fucked up bad enough to be removed from his specialized position. His punishment?....if you guessed being sent back to patrol, your living in a dream world. He gets moved to another specialized position with a take home car and weekends off.
Anon: 9:27. Are you talking about his mistress that was sent to recruiting at the academy or is there another one?
Yeah he gets sent back to a unit that he was kicked out of 8 years ago for the same type shit. If you can't testify because of truthfulness you can't be in patrol either. How about PAL or crime prevention or something like that??
No change from RoMo to Putney. During a recent so called training session Officers were told that grabbing a black man by his dreadlock was unethical even if the arrest is lawful. What about all the other pain compliance techniques we are taught, what about taking someone to the ground in order to control an individual and not having to use force or injury them. Admin is still preaching two sets of rule. Those rules for arrest offenders and how to arrest a black offender. We are confused and nothing will ever change until our leaders stand up and stop catering to color. If you commit a crime you will be arrested. Wake up Charlotte, your officers hands are being tied behind their backs and brace yourselves for the crime rate to increase because our department is divide by those that who feel we need to treat a certain race differently.
This mistress has popped up in a few threads and she was heavily defended in one of them. What is the deal with her?
LOL at treating black criminals different than white ones. What if the white guy has dreadlocks??? Can he be pulled down by his hair?
I feel sorry for the police in this town. Why would anyone want to work under such lack of leadership?
Well the FDs and PDs office investigators read this page so hopefully they get the info and if this detective ever has to get on the stand to testify they tear him apart. I guess they would have to subpoena Putney too to ask him about it and see if he would lie under oath about it or not.
Anon 9:44. The crime rate in Charlotte has never decreased. It has either remained the same in certain areas or increased. The lies Romo spread about the decrease in crime, as the were not reporting the crimes properly to the FBI.
And who was responsible to report those crimes (in addition to RoMo, of course)? Kerr Putney.
Every officer who is under-reporting crime is a liar and not worthy of a badge and the power that comes with it.
Want to use the excuse "I was ordered to do it?" (are you listening IA?)
Orders to violate laws and the constitution and the stated ethics and policy requirements are TO BE REFUSED AND REPORTED.
Have a backbone.
Maybe Carlee will assign Kimble to rehab Putney like he did fire. That has worked well bringing their dept back together. Ha!
Another lying corrupt weasel won't be able to fix anything (which I understand is your point).
All of the common knowledge of corruption in police and generally in the City must lead to the conclusion that it extends to the SBI and FBI, or there would be lots more people in prison than Cannon.
Is it a good sign that Pittinger is known to be under investigation? Maybe. But how do they watch a Captain LIE on the witness stand about the messed up training in this department that led to a man dying and not take any action. Why isn't the Captain prosecuted? Or whoever ordered him to testify and claim the training is what he said? Why isn't Monroe prosecuted for the gross negligence that led to the department being in this condition? And Putney was in charge of training, but installed as Chief without even looking elsewhere. THAT's why the City settled. The City knew and knows of Monroe's actions since before he was hired.
Yes, there were many factors that led to Jonathan Ferrell's death and we will never be able to know the full truth. Never. But what is clear to me is that Kerrick was not on some murderous rampage but his training was woefully inadequate and the CMPD representative got on the stand and LIED about what the training is. His supervisor told the truth about instructing Kerrick to pull his gun when someone else pulls their taser, and that is probably what saved Kerrick from prosecution. Whatever you think about his actions being right or wrong, necessary or excessive, it seems he did what he was trained to do. It's the training. And it seems that officers are still in two camps about what to do if they were faced with the same situation, which means it's not fixed.
What has anyone told you since the shooting and/or since the trial about pulling a gun when there are three officers present and a large man coming your direction? The City/Putney are representing that there is a different answer than what happened that night. But what is that answer?
This executive panel is dangerous for everyone.
Put-nay is hoping the end is in sight, but it is just the beginning in the search for truth. One or two in the command staff will eventually break rank, and come forward with the lies of Monroe and his upper echelon. The truth about the two grand juries will come out, the fabrications presented to the second grand jury i.e., that Ferrell was standing there with his hands up complying with the officers, "just asking for help", plus the conveniently omitted facts detailing Ferrell's aggression, and much, much more. Charlotte is on the fast track to becoming the next Baltimore, and if the citizens of Charlotte don't demand accountability, it will happen. Now you know why Put-nay was so outspoken regarding the arrest and prosecution of Officer Kerrick initially, but suddenly changed course and offered no opinion in the days leading up to the Attorney General's decision not to re-try the case. It would be entirely appropriate for a Federal Civil Rights investigation to be launched for the injustices committed against Officer Kerrick, but it won't happen because Law Enforcement Officers don't have rights.
He will still be fired. The criminal case is separate. They will still site him based on policy excessive use of force. Civil service will decide his fate and they will terminate him based on what they were told behind closed doors. He will be unable to sue based on the fact that they are covered under the fact that a grand jury indicted him. Granted it was the second one and they went "grand jury shopping", but still they are covered. I wish he could get a couple mill from the city, but in the end he will resign in lieu of being fired and move on with his life. Like Darren Wilson, no other department will hire him and hopefully he will find a fulfilling and long term job.
The problem is that most of the officers that have come out over the past 10 years, (not the military guys and gals) are pussys. They're scared of their own shadow, haven't had their bells rung and haven't been scared to the point of hyper-ventilation. I like to yell at them and lunge for them and watch them cower (again not the military people) and pee themselves in training. They do the same in real life and there will be more instances like this coming. Obama and Holder are releasing 30,000 real ass damn thugs from prison and you will see what crime is like in Charlotte.
So when does Doug Moore start back in Vice? Do you think they will be stupid enough to put that in the personnel order? Do you think he will be kicked out of their again?
8:28. Good observation. A few years back some military leaders expressed frustration over being able to recruit someone that had previous experience throwing and taking blows. Pretty tough to find that in this video game, PC age. However, I will vouch for Kerrick, as I've known him for a number of years and he has gotten his bell rung, came up hard, and isn't soft.
The other issue: Kids are coming out of college who never had any intent or interest in becoming LEOs, they start the job hunt and go "Hey, starting police pay and benefits aren't too bad, and I can't find anything else. I'll give that a shot."
They look good on paper, educated, no criminal record--a good candidate for "modern law enforcement."
Then they realize that badge means very little (besides being a source of contention) in many parts of this city and with citizens. I've heard (firsthand from friends in other agencies) of the educated rookie calling it quits the first/second time he/she gets into a hands on situation.
Our entire nation is overall getting soft (with the exception of some groups of people like you mentioned), that's why you're getting soft recruits and cops. Society wants law enforcement to be a white collar profession, and that pushes the working man out and puts people from privileged backgrounds at an advantage during hiring.
If my knees were not gone I'd be knocking the recruiter's door down. But that's life and the department will have to hire mud runners from the golden side of town if they can't find enough prior service folks.
With all this Kerrick news coverage, one of the attorneys (prosecution) stated something to the effect of "Cops are not warriors."
I call BS. You have to have that warrior mentality to succeed--take blows, give blows, prevail and win. Expect to get assaulted, and realize it is a side effect of you coming out of the contact as the victor.
Yup, no place for warriors at CMPD. A friend of mine was called a warrior back in the late 80s by some command staff people during a board hearing and a commander said that there was no place there for warriors. He had come from group and some didn't like that. Haters gonna hate.
So what's up with Douggie Moore ??
@ 8:28, and 9:20 and 10:04.....
AMEN. You have hit the nail on the head!!!
Last couple of posters have definitely hit it spot on! Today's cops are not the same cops that were hired when I first joined. You had to be prepared to get dirty. It's part of the job..... Law enforcement is definitely not for non hackers. We have definitely become to reliant on the tools on our belts.
I've heard it for years about the young officers being soft and here you have a prime example of the end result of that problem - but you aren't courageous enough to say it. Kerrick freaked out. He wasn't prepared to get his hands dirty, and was over-reliant on the biggest tool on his belt. But no one wants to talk about that.
You people are so full of shit.
Anon 9:20. You need to have the warrior mentality to survive on the streets in any given situation. If you don't have this, then you won't survive what you will encounter on the streets.
Does not matter what yall think its what the law states ....i believe he operated within the law
With that being said newer Officers have more traditional education but are less equip to go hands on ie soft/hard empty hand.....one day a week for two months in DT does not equip them
I truly believe the better trained you are in fighting the less u will have to fight.....id rather wear someone out then shoot them if i can avoid it even if it wasn't such a PC environment
Yeah I would rather wear them out then shoot them too! I can't afford to lose the off duty pay sitting on administrative duty! Damn ex wives
@Cedar....in other news any info on this?
http://www.fox46charlotte.com/news/local-news/12418143-story
I guess Charlotte is not immune from the Ashley Madison hack
So evidently didn't like the fact that protesters were standing on patrol cars but he's ok with officers getting hit with rocks and no arrests being made
I hope George can get Wes some money after all the shit he has had to endure. The folks in IA all need to be rotated out. They are like the Gestapo of CMPD.
The raciest crap going on now is frustrating to say the least. The blacks say they have raciest supervisors if they get in trouble. The white guys say they don't have a chance in hell because they are white if they get in trouble. I recall when we all got along and I think its horseshit that such distrust exists now. I see black female rookies become detectives in 6 months! They cant even do an accident report but now they are in robbery/rape? Chief Webster wanted color in all areas according to him. Instead of merit to get promoted and good assignments you could just get a pass on being of "color". The veterans are hands off because we know that this mess was started by that little bastard who NEVER should have been a cop here much less a chief! Watching the rookies scratch there heads has become come a favorite pass time now. To bad its only the public that suffers. I say we get a billboard on 277 proclaiming Rodney douche bag Monroe the biggest mistake charlotte has ever made! Fund me page for that?
Maroo hugigi is the mistress in recruiting. Should'venever made Iit before and definitely never been hired back. Her last name has changed but still the same lazy sack of crap.
When you send the liar-in-chief over to run training and recruiting, what do you expect?
He name is Maroo Blake now. Epitome of empty uniform. Liar and unethical. IF the rumor she was on a no hire back list is true, it was for good reason. IF the rumor is true the newest chief is checking her fluid levels then that is an unethical reason to have her hired back and he should resign for insulting the integrity of his "family". She could've gone to animal control or property, but didn't need to be police again. I can only fear the poeple she will recruit if her version of ethics are the measure.
Specifically what did she do to get on 'no hire' list?
Oh yeah her last name is Grant.
She was a terrible officer the first time around. Yet somehow 6 years later gets rehired, cut loose from PTO phase magically just a few days before the deadline for putting in for recruiting....those transfers were over a month ago and yet they still haven't shown up in the personnel orders. Interesting....
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