November 27, 2009
The Charleston Gazette -- Police: Civilian review wise

South Charleston taxpayers will give $5,000 damages to a young black man who says he was followed by officers and subjected to a roadside search that included groping inside his underwear. The suspect previously asked city officials to apologize, but they didn't answer his certified letter, so he sued.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- South Charleston taxpayers will give $5,000 damages to a young black man who says he was followed by officers and subjected to a roadside search that included groping inside his underwear. The suspect previously asked city officials to apologize, but they didn't answer his certified letter, so he sued.

A West Virginia State Police trooper was accused of stopping a young female driver, accusing her of being intoxicated, and coercing her into having sex with him. He resigned during a State Police investigation. Now he's the police chief of Hinton, where lawyer Andrew Maier says some black residents consider him abusive. Two decades ago, four Hinton and Summers County officers went to federal prison for savage treatment of blacks.

Last month, a former Montgomery officer, Matthew Leavitt, likewise was imprisoned for brutalizing a mixed-race couple. Police reporter Gary Harki revealed that Leavitt had a sickening record of beatings, drunkenness, sexual attacks and lawsuits during his erratic career at six different municipal police departments.

Charleston lawyer Roger Wolfe was battered by troopers at a South Charleston barracks. State Police paid him $200,000 in damages this fall.

Bluefield taxpayers had to cough up $1 million in damages in 2000 to a young black man who was beaten so cruelly by two white officers that he was paralyzed below the neck.

Former Dunbar officer Raymond Conley reportedly will plead guilty to offering to drop traffic charges against a woman in return for sex.

A federal lawsuit accuses four Logan officers of gang-raping a woman and threatening to kill her two male companions.

Ugly problems like these surface intermittently among West Virginia officers, who are empowered to carry loaded guns and to kill suspects if necessary. Smaller allegations of violence are commonplace.

When a West Virginian feels mistreated by police, he or she has several options: A complaint can be filed with the same police department involved in the episode -- which usually results in a finding that the officers did nothing wrong, which breeds suspicion of a cover-up. Or county prosecutors can be asked to investigate, which rarely brings action. Or a damage lawsuit can be filed.

We think a fourth option also is needed. Most large cities have impartial civilian review boards to hear claims of police misconduct. Neutral outsiders listen to evidence and issue advisory conclusions. Often, accused officers are exonerated.

Charleston briefly had such a review board in the late 1990s. Then-Mayor Kemp Melton created it after 24 brutality accusations were filed within 11 months. The board made seven investigations and ruled against three officers -- one of whom pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and quit the force. Bluefield also established a review board after its $1 million damage settlement.

A new civilian review panel should be appointed to hear all complaints arising within Kanawha County. It would give aggrieved people an avenue to express their distress. And it would provide an open, unbiased forum to determine whether any wrongdoing occurred. Police departments should welcome it, because it might prevent the filing of some big-money lawsuits with costly lawyer fees.

hey stinky over the years i had my share of issues with poc county sheriffs dept,1 game warden,state police and some federal agencys whos names i decline to mention.what i found over the years was they would often try try to do searchs of my person ,car,home but all were cut short due to the fact i know the law and what they can and can do legally and they knew it .on one ocassion they wanted to have my auto impounded that i was driving it belonged to a freind well they couldnt do that they had instructed the tow driver to tow it to thier impound area ,they wanted to search it but could not come up with a reason at the time but i know thats what they wanted to do i just paid him to tow it to my home about 30 miles past marlington and they couldnt do jack to stop me.another thime when the sheriffs dept pretty much all of them and the state police and game warden showed up at my home they wanted to confistate some firearms and do a search after making it plain they had no grounds for a search and id sue them for it ,they said well were taking the guns that are out in plain sight i asked why they said they had suspecion they were stoloen which was a really big bag of dooty. i told them to use thier radio to call them in and check all of a sudden thier radios didnt work again they wanted the guns so i handed them my phone and said use this it works at this point they declined to use the phone and to take the guns.they were curious about my criminal record as a youthfull offender which the court system in another state had sealed again its sealed go climb a tree .know your rights and if pulled over stop in front of a business thats open or someones home few cops even dumb ones will violate your rights if they know you know them and others are watching ,if they ask questions demand a lawyer be present.if they want to search your home or car dont give premission simply say i decline to give you premission to do so but i will in no way hinder or interfear with you if you search my car etc in a illegal fasion and if possible make sure theres someone elese around to hear you say it that has noting to do with any of it.on back road late night stops its your word aginst them carry a tape recorder and inform the officer that you are recording the entire conversation. your in a public place you can take his picture and record the conversation all you want.2 cops in georgia who stoped me comming from ohio en route to florida made the statement the reason they stoped me was they were looking for people smuggling meth from texas to florida yet the interstate to the east bound texas area was 23 miles south of where i was at the time and i had a car with ohio plates when i explained i was recording the conversation when thay asked to search it ended the search ,not 2 miles down the road they had some poor fool pulled over tossing his trunk