{"id":197024057,"date":"2011-03-31T08:54:17","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T08:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=197024057"},"modified":"2011-03-31T08:54:17","modified_gmt":"2011-03-31T08:54:17","slug":"whats-a-citizen-to-do-when-the-police-botch-an-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=197024057","title":{"rendered":"WHAT\u2019S A CITIZEN TO DO WHEN THE POLICE BOTCH AN INVESTIGATION"},"content":{"rendered":"

[B’ Spokes: I’m going to skip over the details of the fatality and share the ending of this article. And yes I am thinking of some of the bicycling fatalities here in Baltimore, we are urged to be patient till the investigation is completed and then there is no discussion, the conclusions are final. ]
\n*******************************************************************************************************
\nBY: KEVIN SCHWARTZ AND SHWETA KRISHNAN
\n…
\nPeter Cadden, unable to convince law enforcement officials that their conclusions were incorrect, says he thinks there should be some sort of independent board citizens like him can appeal to if they have a disagreement with the police. Such boards do exist in municipalities across the United States, often in bigger cities like Boston. Their focus is typically cases of police misconduct. Experts said they were not aware of any boards that would handle a case like Cadden\u2019s. Because of the technical expertise necessary to assess reconstruction reports, as well as the relatively small impact such cases would have, the experts said it would be very difficult to create such a board.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard enough to get a civilian review board that has any teeth when it comes to police misconduct,\u201d said Barbara Dougan, a lawyer speaking on behalf of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Lawyer\u2019s Guild. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine that you\u2019d have any success at all to have a body that would reassess more technical reports.\u201d
\nThere is no civilian review board in Mattapoisett and nothing like it in Plymouth County. Bradley said district attorney policy when a citizen has a complaint about a report is to check back with the supervisor of the agency that authored it, which his office did in the Cadden case. \u201cThere\u2019s not a whole lot they can do if [the reconstructionist] refuses to admit it\u2019s wrong,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying it\u2019s impossible, but it\u2019s difficult to prove [a report] is botched if you have an experienced trooper giving an opinion that was approved by his experienced supervisor.\u201d
\nAccording to Dobson, the accident reconstructionist hired by Cadden, the State Police are usually reluctant to revisit a case once a report is filed unless litigation is involved. \u201c[Reports are corrected] almost never,\u201d he said. \u201cIt goes into the hands of the attorney, who brings it to life only in the trial.\u201d
\nKevin Reddington, a Brockton attorney who handles accident reconstruction cases, said the motive for not changing reports is probably fear of punishment, rather than malicious intent. \u201cUnless there\u2019s some sort of relationship\u2014it\u2019s probably just an overwhelmed guy who mixed up his numbers,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat happens is they take an adversarial approach. They don\u2019t want to end up in front of a jury, where he\u2019s going to have his head handed to him.\u201d
\nOver the past year, Cadden has appealed again to the district attorney\u2019s office and the attorney general\u2019s office and met with Police Chief Lyons. The officials have listened and even re-interviewed a witness, but they did not reopen the case. Cadden is frustrated and still insists the State Police report reached the wrong conclusion, but he is out of options.
\n\u201cI almost feel like this is an irreversible process from their perspective,\u201d he said of law enforcement officials. \u201cYou can\u2019t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.\u201d
\n
\n.
\nhttps:\/\/www.commonwealthmagazine.org\/News-and-Features\/Features\/2011\/Winter\/A-son-seeks-answers.aspx<\/a>oldId.20110331085417119<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[B’ Spokes: I’m going to skip over the details of the fatality and share the ending of this article. And yes I am thinking of some of the bicycling fatalities here in Baltimore, we are urged to be patient till the investigation is completed and then there is no discussion, the conclusions are final. ] … <\/p>\n

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