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I’ve posted repeatedly in the past about the double standard in DUI law enforcement, and more particularly on the "pass" cops get when they drive drunk.  See for example, Guarding the Guardians, The Blue Cover-Up, The Thin Blue Line and The Unwritten Code.

It would appear that this "unwritten code" is not limited to the U.S….

Rookie Cop ‘Harassed and Berated’ After Arresting Off-Duty Officer

 

Toronto, Canada.  May 29 – It’s an impaired driving case like thousands of others except it involves a rookie Toronto police officer who crossed the thin blue line and paid the price.

Const. Andrew Vanderburgh was “harassed and berated” by fellow officers because on Nov. 28, 2009, he arrested and charged an off-duty police constable with impaired driving and having a blood-alcohol level over 80 milligrams, according to an internal police disciplinary ruling.

Some officers also allegedly called Vanderburgh a “rat,” Justice Paul Reinhardt wrote in a pre-trial ruling.

On Tuesday, Vanderburgh was in Old City Hall court to testify at Breton Berthiaume’s long-delayed impaired driving trial. He declined to comment except to say that while he does not regret charging a fellow officer, the fallout has been difficult.

Also in court was Const. Suhail Khawaja, who accompanied Vanderburgh in his squad car the evening of the arrest.

That night, Vanderburgh and Khawaja went to Berthiaume’s home in High Park after a 911 caller reported seeing someone driving erratically on the Don Valley Parkway, and had recorded the licence plate number.

Some officers there “took exception to a police officer being charged or investigated,” Crown Attorney Mary-Anne Mackett told court Tuesday, providing an overview of the convoluted 2½-year-old case.

Reinhardt, who is no longer the judge in the Berthiaume case, said in his pre-trial ruling that disclosure he reviewed alleged Khawaja “refused to assist Constable Vanderburgh in the arrest and preparation of paperwork at 22 Division.”

“Constable Khawaja is purported to have stated on more than one occasion that evening to different informants that he wanted nothing to do with the arrest of a fellow police officer,” Reinhardt wrote.

Vanderburgh, meanwhile, continued to pay a price.

After Berthiaume was released, Vanderburgh drove a marked police vehicle back to his division and was followed by a 22 Division cruiser driven by Const. James Little.

Little pulled him over and gave him a ticket for allegedly disobeying a red light, which was later dismissed. Last year, Little pleaded guilty to one count of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act.

Little chose “to disregard his professional obligations and embark on a course of retaliatory action against a colleague performing his sworn, lawful duty,” Supt. Robin Breen wrote in his ruling.

“He abused his position to express his personal displeasure about his colleague’s arrest of an off-duty police officer.” Little was docked 20 days’ pay.

Two other officers, including a staff sergeant who failed to intervene, were disciplined in the incident. One was also docked 20 days’ pay, the other 15.

Apparently, the only difference we have with our northern neighbors is that the Canadian cops are punished for their conduct.
 

DUI BLOG

A few weeks ago, I posted about Houston cops who had covered up a drunk driving  investigation involving one of their own.  See The Unwritten Code.  The suspect — a sergeant  who had crashed into a school bus on his way to work — had a blood-alcohol level of .20%.  Cops at the scene, however,  assured witnesses that the sergeant was not drunk; they also threatened to arrest some who were trying to take photographs of open containers in his car.   

Due to increasing media pressure, the cop was charged with DWI and an internal review was eventually conducted into the "investigation" of the accident.  The results?

Cop Disciplined After Alleged DWI Gets New Post


Houston, TX.  Sept. 28 – There are surprising new responsibilities for a Houston police officer accused of turning a blind eye in the investigation of a fellow officer’s alleged DWI crash.

Seven officers were reprimanded for their roles in allegedly covering up the extent of a fellow officer’s DWI accident. HPD says Sgt. Ruben Trejo was drunk when he hit a school bus in April, with a blood alcohol content more than twice the legal limit. Trejo was eventually charged and then fired from the police force, but the officers accused of helping him nearly get away with it remain on the beat. Now Eyewitness News uncovered a surprising new detail.

Tonight we’ve learned the highest ranking officer among the disciplined cops is getting a new job. It’s not part of his discipline. In fact he’ll have some increased and somewhat surprising new responsibilities.

In the minutes after allegedly drunk HPD Sergeant Ruben Trejo crashed his pickup into a school bus his fellow officers denied alcohol was involved. It was, according to HPD, who says Trejo was more than twice the legal limit. One officer literally covered up bottles on Trejo’s floorboards and seven officers were disciplined for the botched investigation. This week, we learned some of the details why…

Assistant Chief Daniel Perales was the highest ranking in the group.

HPD Chief McClelland told Perales, "You failed to ensure that a comprehensive and timely investigation was conducted into the allegations that alcohol may have been a factor in Sgt. Trejo’s accident."

Just two weeks after being disciplined for not properly investigating that DWI accident, we’ve learned Chief Perales is getting a new job. He’ll now be in charge of traffic enforcement for HPD and the DWI task force…

Let me see if I understand this correctly….A drunken cop crashes into a school bus on his way to work…an assistant police chief is found to be the senior officer in an attempted cover up…and he is then put in charge of the Department’s DWI Task Force.

Welcome to the "War on Drunk Driving".

(Thanks to Joe Cadillic.)
 

DUI BLOG

I’ve often posted in the past about a double standard when it comes to enforcing drunk driving laws against police officers.  See, for example, Who Will Guard the Guardians?, The DUI Double Standard, The DUI Double Standard II, Guarding the Guardians.  As news over the weekend reflects, the cover-ups continue….

Drunk Driving Double Standard

Hartford, CT.  Dec. 19 – It opens with a pleasant holiday jingle, and what looks to be some festive Christmas lights.

And then comes a startling screech of metal before the camera pulls back to show police lights and sirens and state police spokesperson Lt. Paul Vance delivering this stern message:

"Nothing shatters the holidays faster than a car crash. The state and local police are cracking down on speeding, unbuckled drivers and drunk driving this season."

"We will stop you," Vance warns over an image of a tombstone, "before you put an end to your holiday or someone else’s."

Unless, of course, you’re a cop in Windsor Locks or Bristol these days. And then, well, the tough guy bit makes way for a kinder, gentler approach.

If you’re a Bristol officer, for example, you apparently get a written warning for driving too fast after slamming your cruiser into a utility pole and knocking out power to a whole neighborhood.

In case you missed that story, here are the highlights: On June 26, former Bristol Police Officer Robert Mosback reported for duty after drinking a beer and two rum and Cokes at a party earlier that evening.

Shortly after his shift began, Mosback totaled his cruiser and caused 0,000 worth of damage. But there wasn’t a peep about possible misconduct from his department until a worker’s comp employee uncovered hospital reports that showed Mosback was intoxicated and denied the city’s claims.

Mosback quit three days after the city got the medical report. And earlier this month, state police who were called in to conduct an independent investigation, charged Mosback with drunken driving.

In an arrest affidavit, Mosback insists he wasn’t drunk: He napped before his shift, he said. And this doozy: His hospital tests must have been switched with another patient’s.

Then there’s the now well-known case of Windsor Locks Officer Michael Koistinen, who struck and killed 15-year-old Henry Dang on Oct. 29 after an apparent night of drinking.

As far-fetched as Mosback’s "switched sobriety test" defense, Koistinen’s claim that he wasn’t drunk when he slammed his car into Dang as the teen bicycled home, is even more suspect. His father, a Windsor Locks sergeant, was briefly in charge of the crash scene and, despite officers on the scene noting a case of unopened beer in his car, Koistinen wasn’t given a sobriety test.

Koistinen, who eventually was fired after state police took over the investigation, now faces a number of criminal charges, including manslaughter. His father, Sgt. Robert Koistinen, remains on paid administrative leave.

"The police are cracking down on drunk driving," warns the spot now airing for the holidays.

Good, except does that apply to everyone – or only to those who aren’t cops?

So who guards the guardians?
 

DUI BLOG