Keller overturns citizen board’s ruling on officer

Keith Paul

Friday, April 19, 2002 | 10:55 a.m.

Sheriff Jerry Keller on Thursday rejected a Citizen Review Board ruling that said an officer was racially biased when he arrested a motorist last summer, saying there was no evidence to support the allegation.

"I appreciate their work in this case, but we guarantee our officers fact-based decisions, and there are no facts shown or any indications of biased policing or conduct unbecoming an officer," Keller told the Sun.

The rejections of the findings and recommendation Officer John Andrew S. Cook receive additional cultural diversity training did not surprise Joe Lamarca, chairman of the board's four-member panel that heard the complaint.

"I wouldn't have expected anything less," he said. "My experience with that crew over there is they are going to say their guys were right. We are going to see him back before us again."

The board's decision did not articulate specific evidence suggesting racial bias in Cook's decision to arrest, but stated "bias was the basis for the officer's suspicions and under the same circumstances a white American male offering the same excuses for driving conduct would have been released without the roadside (sobriety testing) or other questions."

The review board's panel voted 4-0 on March 29 that Cook, 27, an officer since January 1999, acted inappropriately during a traffic stop on June 4. The board also ruled allegations against Officer William Giblin were unfounded. The decision was finalized and forwarded to Metro on April 9.

It was only the second time the board has recommended an officer be disciplined. The sheriff also rejected a split decision by the board last March sustaining a complaint of excessive force against two traffic officers and recommending a written reprimand.

The 25-member review board began operating in October 2000 after years of political wrangling and public outcry. In February 2001, the board released its first decisions, clearing one officer and sustaining a complaint against another, but in both cases it pointed out shoddy internal investigations by police.

Metro officials at the time agreed with the board's assessment of the investigations.

A University of Nebraska at Omaha criminology professor who has studied civilian oversight says there has not been enough time or decisions to draw any trends from either the sheriff's two decisions or the board's rulings.

"It takes time for them to understand and respect each other," said Samuel Walker, who has also written a book about the civilian review process.

In rejecting the board's recommendation for Cook, Keller said he reviewed the internal affairs investigation -- which cleared the officer -- and the review board's decision.

Lamarca agreed that no racial slurs were used by the officer during the stop, but claimed race was still used as the basis for the arrest.

Keith Harrison filed a complaint after his arrest on driving under the influence charges late on June 4 in front of his mother's house on North 20th Street. The charges were later dropped when a blood test detected no drugs or alcohol in his system.

The panel stated there was no way for Cook to know Harrison's ethnicity at the time of the stop as it was dark and the car's window were tinted.

The panel agreed Cook was justified in pulling Harrison over but acted unprofessionally when Harrison gave him an expired car insurance card. Cook said, "What's the deal," implying the card was fake, the ruling states.

Keller disagreed that the officer was disrespectful to Harrison.

"The manner and vernacular used by Officer Cook in questioning the validity of the proof of insurance care, i.e., 'What's the deal ...' has no relation to the racial or ethnic background of Mr. Harrison, and cannot be construed as improper," Keller wrote in a memo rejecting the decision.

Harrison then gave the officer a valid card and said he pulled over so the officer could pass him and he could back into his mother's driveway. Cook detected no odor of alcohol, but indicated Harrison had bloodshot, watery, glassy eyes and his pupils were dilated. Harrison was arrested after Cook and Giblin, who came as backup, gave a series of roadside sobriety tests including a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus used to detect drivers under the influence of drugs.

While the internal investigation cleared the officers, the board noted an internal affairs statement that "the officers clearly did not have the training or experience to identify a drug impaired suspect. The officers may have been policing beyond their ability.

Keller also rejected that conclusion may be his own internal affairs detectives saying the memo, "This is clearly incorrect as Officer Cook was LVMPD certified in the technique of Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus on April 12, 2001, than than 60 days before the event occurred."

Lamarca said he was amazed the sheriff also took issue with the statement from internal affairs.

"I think to reject your own internal affairs (statement) and to reject the citizens (board's decisions), that's probably someone who is not up for re-election," Lamarca said. Keller announced last year he was not running for re-election.