I am unimpressed with the city of Raleigh's attempt to quiet a corrupt system by settling the pending lawsuit (2 million dollars settlement). It's the LEAST the City of Raleigh / RPD can do, considering they framed over a dozen Black Men and then had the nerve to raid their homes and charge them with a crime that carries a minimum of 7 1/2 years in PRISON.
I will be impressed when the following Raleigh Police Department Officers are charged and are caged just like they caged my son...for a minimum of 7 1/2 years. THAT would be justice to me. All cases related to the RPD officers named in the dismissed lawsuit and confidential informants they have worked with need to be REVISITED, REOPENED, and REEXAMINED for FRAUD. -Robin Ess
Raleigh Police Department Officers named in the dismissed lawsuit:
Omar Abdullah
William Rolfe.
Rishar Pierre Monroe
Julien David Rattelade
Meghan Caroline Gay
David Chadwick Nance
Jason Gwinn
Lieutenant Jennings
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The following policy recommendations were submitted by the attorneys representing the Plaintiffs in the case.
The Policy letter was sent to:
Raleigh Police Department Chief Estella Patterson
6716 Six Forks Road
Raleigh, NC 27615
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman
PO Box 31Raleigh, NC 27602
(SERVED VIA USPS MAIL/ EMAIL)
September 16, 2021
Re: Washington, et al v. City of Raleigh, et al, 21-CV-00194, Policy Recommendations to the Raleigh Police Department and Wake County District Attorney's Office
Below are Policy Recommendations to the Raleigh Police Department ("RPD") and the Wake County District Attorney's Office ("DA") related to the more than 15 wrongful arrests for heroin trafficking made by the RPD VICE unit.
Best Practices for Testing Controlled Substances
Field-test Drugs recovered on the scene within 24 hours of recovery.
Submit all controlled substances to the CCBI lab for processing within 24 hours of recovery. (If unable to submit the drugs within 24 hours, the arresting officer must document their reason for not doing so on their incident/crime report.)
Require the CCBI lab to provide the results of each test to RPD within 72 hours of submission.
Cannot "swear out" warrants until they receive results from the CCBI lab or a recorded field test, indicating the drugs tested are a controlled substance.5
Video record all field tests and submit the footage as evidence to the DA.
Preserve all field-test results and submit the results as evidence to the DA.
Purchase Safe Field-Testing Technology
Purchase the TruNarc Handheld Narcotics Analyzer. The TruNarc permits officers to scan narcotics for a controlled substance without removing the packaging.
In cases where an RPD Officer is not equipped with proper field-testing equipment at the time of recovery, they may bring the substance back to the station for testing.
Best Practices for Charging Drug Crime
The arresting officer should submit a complete charging packet to the District Attorney. The packet shall include the following:
Lab/field test results from all analyzed drugs.
Criminal history records of suspects.
BWC video footage of the arrest.
BWC video footage of field testing of the drugs.
Undercover Buy Video.
Crime Report with information regarding witnesses and witness statements.
Probable Cause Statements.
Copies of buy money/CI payment money.
The arresting officer and an RPD supervisor shall watch the undercover buy video in every case before swearing out a warrant.
An RPD supervisor and Assistant District Attorney shall approve any warrants before they are issued.
Best Practices for Handling Informants we recommend that RPD disband the use of paid confidential informants
Plaintiffs recommend that the City, community partners, and the RPD create a working group to examine the use of confidential informants, including:
positive and negative outcomes from the use of informants;
the ability to maintain community safety without informants;
transparency in the use of and policies regarding informants; and
the financial costs associated with the use of paid informants and controlled drug buys.
Additional recommendations are spelled out in detail in Mr. Jordan's report. They include:
All RPD VICE officers must be equipped with BWC or audio recording devices.
Cameras or audio devices shall be activated while meeting with Confidential Informants.
RPD Vice officers must ensure that any receipt of purchased drugs or payment to a CI is audio or video recorded.
Audits and Inspections of UC Funds/ Payment to Informants
(Will the public have access to how their tax dollars are spent on CI's?)
****These recommendations are spelled out in detail in Mr. Jordan's report.****
Additional Risk Management Recommendations
RPD VICE officers do not currently wear body-worn cameras, even when engaging public members and making arrests.
The RPD will establish a Management Level Liaison ("MLL") to work closely with:
the Wake County Courts
Wake County District Attorney's Office
Wake County Public Defender's Office.
The MLL's responsibilities should include the following:
*Meet monthly with all stakeholders.
Ensure that cases that are lost, dropped, or dismissed due:
bad reports
defective search warrants
granted "motions to suppress."
have contradictory evidence or testimony
any other indication of performance problems or misconduct
They are tracked and reported to the Internal Affairs Division ("IAD") Commander and the subject officer's unit commander.
Ensure that any misconduct that comes to their attention should be reported to IAD in accordance with the provisions of RPD's complaint policy.
Complete and forward a monthly report to the Chief of Police.
Selection of Vice Officers
The RPD shall establish a policy requiring VICE officers to undergo an annual background investigation. The investigation should consist of a review of the following documents:
Credit reports (provided by members/employees)
Payroll records
Law enforcement agency records
DMV database records
Warrant/Restraining order databases
Public records (County courthouse records)
Policy Recommendations for the Wake County District Attorney's Office
Adoption of Standard Policies and Procedures
The DA currently has no manual or handbook containing all policies and procedures for the office.
Plaintiffs recommend that the DA, community partners, and other nationwide and local DA offices create a standard policy manual to provide to its employees. This policy manual should be made publicly available on the DA's website to allow public input and build community confidence through transparency.
Adoption of a Robust Brady and Giglio Policy
The DA's Office currently has a one-page policy related to Brady/Giglio disclosures. Ex. C. This policy contains no case law discussing the scope of Brady. It also gives minimal guidance on the disclosure of internal affairs and personnel files. By comparison, the Mecklenburg County Brady policy is 20 pages long.
Best Practices for the Wake County District Attorney's Drug Unit
The Drug Unit should adopt the following policies:
DA's shall not bring criminal charges or approve warrants without a positive CCBI lab result or a positive field test result.
DAs shall review undercover buy video before bringing criminal charges or approving warrants.
DA's shall turn over to defense counsel all BWC, undercover buy video, and results of CCBI lab or field tests at the Defendant's first appearance.
DA's who suspect a problem with a
CI
officer
evidence in a case
Shall present the matter to their supervisor and the Brady/Giglio committee.
The DA's office shall review every case (including closed cases) where Officer Abdullah was the arresting officer.
(This is where the problem is. We need the cases of ALL the officers, and all the CI's who have ever worked with those officers revisited, reopened, and reexamined for fraud)
The DA's office shall reexamine the evidence in those cases, submit any drugs that were not already tested to the CCBI, and watch the undercover buy video and BWC footage. Cases where the defendants are currently incarcerated should be prioritized.
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