There is an important issue popping up re Ferguson case

[sadoldgirl]

A town nearby had its police department "dissolved", because it cause too much trouble for the black community. That is where Wilson came from, as far as I understand.
This raises the question: If an officer is layed off or fired , let's say from LADP, can he then just go and join departments in Phoenix or Kansas City?
If so, don't the so called "bad apples" just rotate? And what happened to the rest of that "dissolved" PD? Have they joined other departments in Missouri?

[IdaBriggs]

1. It was dissolved due to corruption, per the town counsel.

I posted about it last week, but it has dropped off the radar. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025411848

“Wilson previously worked in nearby Jennings, where the black population is 86.1 percent.”
Officer Darren Wilson Lives in Crestwood, Black Population 1.3%, http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/08/officer_darren_wilson_lives_in_crestwood_black_population_13.html

Article Dated: March 12, 2011 “The council said corruption inside the department led to this.”
Jennings police department dissolves, http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Jennings-police-department-dissolves-117864314.html

And an additional link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/darren-wilson-ferguson-police-officer-who-fatally-shot-michael-brown-identified/

Wilson, 28, has been an officer in suburban St. Louis for six years and had no complaints filed against him, Jackson said. Police previously refused to identify Wilson, citing concerns over the officer's safety.

(snip)

Jackson described Wilson as "a gentle, quiet man" who had been "an excellent officer." He's been on the Ferguson force for four years. Prior to that, he patrolled in the neighboring community of Jennings, Jackson said.

You will notice it has been all over mainstream media ---

Psych! That would be the victim smearing instead of the police corruption issue.

[sadoldgirl]

5. Thank you for the links

I am kind of sad that it dropped off the radar. It makes me wonder whether these kind of things are not at the bottom of all the troubles, outside of racism.

[VanGoghRocks]

19. Um, slight clarification, the Jennings PD was dissolved due to corruption AND excessive

force\police brutality problems (although, AFAIK, Wilson himself was never accused of either corruption or brutality while at Jennings).

Don't have links for this, but I'm 99.9% certain I read this in either the NY Times, Washington Post or some other mainstream national source (and not local media).

[IdaBriggs]

22. Yes. Wilson was one of the police "laid off" or "fired" from there at the time.

I have provided multiple links on the topic. This was first found by other DU'ers on Friday, August 15, 2014 (that I saw it for the first time - others may have found it earlier).

[valerief]

2. Like the rotating priest pederasts. nt

[Enrique]

3. apparently disbanding that police department improved things in Jennings

maybe they should do it in Ferguson.

To answer your question, yes, the police officers are not banned for life from being officers. In fact, they could even re-apply for a job in the new Jennings P.D.

[Lurks Often]

4. It would depend on the reason for the officer leaving the prior job

Laid off usually means a police officer was excess to the department's needs, for example due to budget cuts and they let the most junior officer go. That would not affect him being hired elsewhere.

Being fired means they got rid of a police officer for cause, which could be any number of reasons: attendance, violation of policy, committing a crime. I think most departments would be hesitant to hire a police officer fired for a violation of policy or committing a crime

[sadoldgirl]

6. Yes, I can see that, however

it seems that all PDs are a sort of fraternity club and therefore might not dig too deeply into any officer's past.

[Lurks Often]

7. I disagree, keep in mind there are others involved

I'm thinking the mayor, human resources and the town's lawyers are all going to have at least some input into the hiring process and I don't think a town's attorney(s) is going to sign off on hiring a police officer who cost his prior employer (the town) millions of dollars in a civil suit.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Sadly, a screw up can be hired on elsewhere.

Our new neighbor is a police guy.
He was fired from our town's police force for lying about his schedule. ( I don't want to get in to details, but it was a legit firing)
So he got hired by the sheriff of the adjoining county Sheriff Dept.

They WILL get sued sooner or later, given this guy's attitude, he managed to piss off everyone on the block within 3 weeks of moving in.

There ae many places that are chronically shorthanded and will hire other Dept's rejects.

[IdaBriggs]

8. He and the rest of the department were *fired* due to corruption.

Please see the links in my earlier post. This is not an opinion - it is one of those crazy "fact" things.

[Lurks Often]

9. The town disbanded the police department due to corruption

however Wilson, the police chief and most of the rest of the officers were never charged with anything, IIRC only one of the Jennings PD Lieutenants was ever charged with a crime and many of the Jennings PD were hired by the St. Louis County Sheriff's Department.

So Wilson and the rest of the Jennings Police were not fired, but laid off. So unless you have some sort of actual proof that Wilson and the other officers hired by St Louis County Sheriff's department were ever charged (much less convicted) or reprimanded for corruption, you can take your broad brush attack somewhere else.

[IdaBriggs]

10. Disbanded. Due. To. Corruption.

Offered the chance to be rehired - NOT Rehired.

Go read the links. Not an attack - actual FACT.

But thank you for playing.

ON EDIT: In case you can't make Teh Google work, you can read more here http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Corruption-Investigation-into-Jenning-Police-Department-is-wrapping-up-104182614.html or here http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2011/11/jeffrey_fuesting_jennings_poli.php "The move required a full housecleaning; each existing officer got laid off by the city, and the county brought in a team of 26 new officers. (A small handful of former Jennings cops were rehired.) Fuesting assumed command on March 12."

[Lurks Often]

15. I didn't think you had any proof

that Wilson and the other officers later rehired actually committed a crime or were reprimanded.

Let's extend your train of thought, so everyone working for a corrupt politician or corrupt businessman is automatically guilty as well, without a trial and without any evidence?

by the way, not that you had very much credibility to begin with, but your condescending, snarky comments definitely put you into the "Don't bother reading anything they post" category

[IdaBriggs]

20. Reading comprehension is a tough concept.

So quoting the town council, the local newspaper and the replacement chief about disbanding the entire police force due to corruption four years ago --

Why, your hero must have been the only good cop on the force!

[Lurks Often]

23. Yes, you continue to show your lack of reading comprehension

You get back to me when you have real proof that Wilson himself, along with the other officers hired, actually did something wrong. For some of us due process still means something.

Otherwise feel free to keep believing the lies you are spouting.

[IdaBriggs]

24. I spout facts. He was let go from Jennings when it was disbanded due to corruption.

This was apparently not enough of a "bad reference" and he got a new job in Ferguson.

His shooting victim would *love* some of that due process you keep talking about.

And you are right - for some of us, it "still means something."

Even for unarmed black teenagers.

[Lurks Often]

27. Wrong, the police department being dissolved is a fact

everything else is conjecture and lies. If you were really interested in due process you would wait for all the evidence to come out before reaching a conclusion.

[Crabby Appleton]

17. Disbanded due to a vote of the city council

which is not a criminal indictment.

[IdaBriggs]

21. This may have escaped your notice, but not all criminals get indicted.

That only proves "insufficient evidence to convict" - not innocence. Sometimes they just lose their jobs because (why did the town council disband them again? Oh yes!) of CORRUPTION.

KMOV.com
Posted on October 1, 2010 at 5:50 PM
Updated Saturday, Oct 2 at 3:45 PM
(KMOV) -- There's a a cloud of suspicion over the Jennings Police Department these days. The Missouri Highway Patrol and FBI are investigating whether several officers falsified documents to receive tens of thousands of dollars in overtime that they didn't earn.

And

KMOV.com
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:43 PM
Updated Sunday, Mar 13 at 12:22 AM
(KMOV.com) -- The Jennings, Missouri city council decided to dissovle the police department and hand over operations to the St. Louis county police department.
The council said corruption inside the department led to this. Some cases involve missing money and a slew of internal investigations.
St. Louis county has been leading and staffing the Jennings police department since November, 2010, when Jennings' police chief retired.

And

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2011/11/jeffrey_fuesting_jennings_poli.php

New Jennings Police Commander Tries to Right the Ship
By John H. Tucker Fri., Nov. 11 2011 at 9:45 AM
(snip)
Last fall a joint federal-state investigation revealed that a Jennings police lieutenant had accepted federal money earmarked to pay for DWI checkpoint shifts that never happened. The chief at the time, who never got linked to the scandal, resigned. In November, Fuesting and his boss, Cpt. Troy Doyle of the North County Precinct, took over temporarily, and in March, the Jennings City Council voted 6 to 1 to disband the local police department and enter into a $2.8 million contract with St. Louis County.

The move required a full housecleaning; each existing officer got laid off by the city, and the county brought in a team of 26 new officers. (A small handful of former Jennings cops were rehired.) Fuesting assumed command on March 12.

(snip)

People are slowly beginning to notice. Joseph Zlotopolski, the Jennings fire chief and director of public safety, says the department was in disarray last year.

"They didn't have the training or the leadership or the goals," says Zlotopolski, who's been with the fire department since 1979 -- during a time when his own father was the Jennings chief of police. Zlotopolski says several former officers learned "bad habits" in other city departments and probably should not have been hired.

Guess who DID NOT get rehired? That would be the guy who shot the unarmed teenager....

So, we have a guy who was laid off or fired or released-from-service (call it what you want - "disbanded due to corruption" is what the public minutes say in the city council meeting) because his team was corrupt, who wasn't one of the "good ones" who was rehired....reality.

[Crabby Appleton]

13. No it is not a "fact" thing

laid off and fired are not the same thing.

[IdaBriggs]

25. See previous posts. Disbanded. Due. To. Corruption.

He wasn't hired back.

[Lex]

11. Unless his file in particular had something horrible in it

I doubt he'd be disqualified for later police jobs.

But that's true for most jobs.

[Crabby Appleton]

14. Police officers in MO are licensed by the state DPS

if you have a valid Peace Officer license you can get hired by another department. In MO the license is automatically suspended if charged with a felony.

[MohRokTah]

16. Sort of like pedophile priests.

Move 'em from one department to another, but only when they get caught.

[lame54]

18. Like the Catholic Church

[yeoman6987]

26. One major thought that has not

Come up were that both Wilson and Zimmerman were having major marriage problems. Could that cause over reaction? Thinking that Martin and Brown were their spouse in a way and murdered them but pretending they were the fighting spouse? Just a thought.