Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross terminated 13 cops for racist post that were disclosed by the Plain View Project.
Rumor has it that many of the cops took vacation time when they were notified of the pending action.
We have identified Sergeant Joseph Przepiorka and Sergeant Mark Palma at this time who have been terminated.
Stay tuned…..
Lieutenant Richard Frank has been recommended to be demoted to Sergeant because of his inability to concentrate because he is easily distracted by “looking at tits”, when interacting with his insubordinates. This is never acceptable, but int he #MeToo environment, it is career suicide. Frank has more disciplinary action pending that could lead to his termination.
UPDATE: Former Lieutenant Frank is no longer on the job. He has retired. He has retired as a Lieutenant before he was demoted to the rank of Sergeant.
Lieutenant Anthony Burton is pretty confident that his punishment for cheating, lying and committing fraud by submitted a fraudulent doctor’s note in order to cheat on the Captain’s test, will only result in the prohibition of his future test-taking. While confidence is a great trait to have in a leader, lying, cheating and stealing are not. The Philadelphia Police Department would be remiss to retain such a character in its ranks when there is compelling evidence to substantiate his malfeasance.
The Police Board of Inquiry (PBI) recommended a 45 day suspension for Burtons‘ misdeeds in a prior infraction last week. The 45 days is indicative the Board thought his behavior was pretty awful, but they just couldn’t bring themselves to terminate him for his bad behavior, this time.
The allegations of his attempt at defrauding his fellow officers from a fair shot at competing on promotional exams is still under investigation. Burton has been espousing that his only punishment will not be criminal charges but a five (5) year prohibition on taking civil service examinations.
UPDATE: Former Lieutenant Burton has been demoted to the rank of Sergeant. Burton is back where he started as a Sergeant in the 6th District. Burton was a Sergeant in the 6th District, was in Narcotics as a Sergeant, went to the 15th District as a Lieutenant, leaving a trail of complaints of theft and cheating in his wake.
Burton was then sent to the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center while he was under investigation. Another reason there should be a logistics officer. Why are cops accused of corruption and criminal conduct assigned to centralized multi-agency facility tasked with information sharing between law enforcement agencies.
Shouldn’t the DVIC be staffed with the best and the brightest as opposed to the crooked and corrupt.
Burton is now assigned to the 6th District as a Sergeant. Burton was bragging that his only punishment for cheating was a five year prohibition on any future test taking. Burton has yet to be disciplined for that infraction.
Burton is too broke to retire, so he will have to battle through the loss of his rank. And simply wait for the next shoe to drop, which should lead to the loss of his job.
After fighting a former Philadelphia Police Detective, Michele Vandergrift tooth and nail, the City of Philadelphia settled a Vandergrift-Settlement-Agreement case against the Police Department and Chief Inspector Carl Holmes for $1,250,000.
Holmes has been accused of being a serial sexual predator and a number of women came forward to make complaints. Vandergrift alleged she was sexually assaulted by Chief Inspector Holmes and experienced a hostile work environment by other officers.
Vandegrift further alleged in the complaint that Holmes “wanted to know how wet she was” and that he inserted his finger into her vagina. The complaint also alleges that he pulled his hand out, tasted his finger, and remarked “it tasted good”. This allegedly happened in his office while they were both working. The complaint then goes on to name 24th District officers and Southwest Detectives, both places where Vandegrift worked, who engaged in highly inappropriate, and in some cases, criminal sexual behavior.
The complaint is a salacious and disgusting account of what became a nightmare for Michele Vandegrift. Read Complaint Here
Holmes has been accused of misconduct on numerous occasions. Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey demoted him in 2008 after Holmes admitted he had consensual sex in a police vehicle. The problem in that case was another officer claimed that Holmes attempted to rape her in the car. As a result of the investigation into this complaint, Holmes city car was impounded and forensic evidence found “seminal stains containing spermatozoa”. The departments’ Internal Affairs Department made no attempt to locate or even name this “civilian” employee, to ensure her safety, or that “consensual” sex even took place.
Another Philadelphia Police Officer, Christina Hayburn, alleged that Holmes sexually assaulted her in 2006. The suit states that in Holmes chased Hayburn as she was trying to leave a bar, pulled her into his vehicle and “began kissing her “really hard” as he touched her breasts and put his hands on the outside of her pants toward her genitals.” It should be noted that Carl Holmes is a 6-foot-6, 280-pound former offensive tackle for Temple University. One can easily see how this imposing figure would have no problem overpowering a woman. Account of Officer Hayburn’s incident here.
The suit further alleges that during this encounter, Holmes “digitally penetrated her vagina, after which he pulled out his penis and placed Officer Hayburn’s hand on top of it”. Hayburn stated she said “No”, after he attempted to have intercourse and oral sex, but that Holmes “eventually ejaculated”
Holmes was never charged with a crime, despite the allegations that he “digitally penetrated” one of his victims. In fact, the case was allegedly never turned over to the District Attorney’s Office for charges by Internal Affairs.
Vandegrift has agreed to resign from the Department as part of the settlement and will not work for other law enforcement agencies in the City. The City will not provide any negative references for future employers about Vandegrift.
The monetary award according to the settlement will be $750,000 paid directly to Vandegrift in back pay and $500,000 will go to her attorneys.
Chief Inspector Carl Holmes is currently assigned to the Regional Operations Command-North. A position in which he can still carry on his lecherous behavior upon other officers. A highly visible position as opposed to a small hole in a corner office where men who behave badly, but taxpayers are stuck with, should be assigned.
This problem is systemic when there is a power structure where perverts are in charge and women are their prey. As we have seen with the recent resignations of Al Franken (D) of Minnesota, Rep. Trent Franks(R) of Arizona and Rep. John Conyers (D) of Michigan. Not to mention the avalanche that began with Harvey Weinstein, Head Hollywood Pervert.
Carl Holmes should be held accountable for his actions. Sex scandals have bought down greater men than Carl Holmes. This forum has written about many other bad actors within the department which also resulted in payouts. Those Commanders are currently in positions where they too are allowed to interact with possible future victims.
Policy changes have allegedly occurred as a result of the large payout.
Cristina Hayburn and Michele Vandegrift are silence breakers. Silence breakers (or whistleblowers) were honored as Person of the Year for Time Magazine.
Pictured Below Time Person of The Year, Michele Vandegrift and Christina Hayburn.
In light of what is going on in the America after the tragedy in Charlottesville, in which we lost two law enforcement officers, Troopers, Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen, and Trooper Berke M. M. Bates of the Virginia State Police, as well as Heather Heyer, who were killed it may be time to revisit some of the racist, neo-nazis, white nationalists and white supremacist that are employed by the Philadelphia Police Department.
The “twitterverse” has begun a campaign to identify the marchers of Hate in Charlottesville, by asking neighbors, friends, co-workers and family members to identify these purveyors of hate. Yes You’re a Racist is a twitter campaign that is the vessel being used to this end. To that end, we invite those in the PPD who are working beside, with and know of these parasites. Here’s a refresher course of what we have reported in the past.
Officer Ian Lichterman
Philadelphia Police Officer Ian Lichterman was a member of the same white supremacy group as the killer of Heather Heyer, Blood and Honour. Blood and Honour has been identified as a skinhead racist extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Lichterman’s affiliation was discovered after the database was hacked of neo-Nazi and white supremacist website users by One People’s Project in 2010. On September 1, 2016, it was reported by a citizen by the name of Mindy Isser via twitter to the Police Commissioner, that she was offended by a visible “nazi tattoo” on his arm.
The tweet went viral, Internal Affairs completed its investigation and absolved Lichterman of any wrongdoing. The Times of Israel reported on this despicable incident and reported Mayor Kenney was none too pleased. John McNesby reportedly responded the tattoos were “no big deal”.
Where is Shomrim in all of this. Staff Inspector Larry Nodiff has alot of other stuff on his mind these days, like getting indicted, but Nodiff, Inspector Ben Naish and others who are members of Shomrim should have called McNesby out for defending an officer because he was found to be a member of Blood and Honour, even if there was no policy on tattoos at the time.
The ancient beautiful religion of Judaism and the officers who who are Jewish are under assault by this hate. It cannot be tolerated. NEVER FORGET. We have a DUTY to speak against hate and never be silenced.
The Guardian Civic League has also been quiet on this issue. Where are the voices of folks who are opposed to hate?
So apparently, if you are a member of a known hate group, such as Blood and Honour, you can still be a cop in Philly.
This is a Call of Duty to all to call out and identify Bigots with Badges.
Corporal Robert Pawloski
Pawlowski would be Corporal Robert Pawlowski who, without fear, began throwing around the “N” word in an attempt to recruit other officers in the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters. Pawlowski referred to black officers as “banana eating monkeys” and repeatedly used racist language about then Captain Robyn Wimberly. Pawlowski received a 30 day suspension and a transfer to the 24th District. A district that reportedly has a history of racism. The same district where Schweizer and Dial was assigned after their racist activities.
But FOP President, John McNesby responded to a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News that he’s seen the tattoo and “it’s no big deal”.
Frederic McQuiggan
This sentiment is why the racist website, Domelights.com, which was operated by a Philadelphia Police Sergeant, (now Captain) Fred McQuiggan, without fear. Domelights was dimmed by former Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey after a lawsuit initiated by the Guardian Civic League. However; McQuiggan was never disciplined and continued to get promoted without consequence. The Guardian Civic League extinguished domelights. McQ, as he was known on the racist message board, was forced to shut down the racist site.
Police Officer Michael Kelly
A police officer, Michael Kelly who hung a black baby doll in mock hanging in Highway Headquarters, which resulted in a lawsuit by then Police Officer Lonnie Adams and Bryan James. The lawsuit says the Police Department “failed to do anything about the matter, they were never suspended despite a recommendation Police/Civilian Board of Inquiry that they be suspended.” referring also to the Sergeant at the time, Sergeant Cray, who failed to take any action.
A former Police Sergeant who called former Commissioner Neal the “N” word at roll call. It doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
Captain Drew Techner
Captain Drew Techner, formerly of the 18th District, allegedly went on a racist rant about Black Commanders in the Police Department. After a two month hiatus at the 18th District, Techner was bounced to night command. The blatant disrespect and dishonor he bought upon the Department in the 18th District operations room, was deplorable.
The irony wasn’t lost on the police officers assigned to the 18th District, who not so long ago, had to bear the racist rant about their then-Black Commander, Captain Robyn Wimberly. Wimberly was called a “banana eating monkey” by Corporal Robert Pawlowski.
Officer Scott Schweitzer and Officer Eric Dial
Two narcotics officers, Officer Scott Schweitzer and Eric Dial were kicked out of Narcotics after two racist stickers were discovered after another officer noticed them plastered on their lockers. One sticker said “White Power” and another depicted a Pawlowski looking man, half in uniform and half as a Klansman with the epitaph “Blue By Day – White By Night”. Cops Suspended over Racist Materials at Work
Officer William Thrasher
Officer William Thrasher, of the 22nd District, and a 2-year veteran, conducted a ride-a-along with a Temple University student journalist. During that ride-a-along, it was alleged that Officer Thrasher made racial comments and slurs, which were posted on Temple University School of Communications and Theater website. The Philadelphia Police Internal Affairs Division investigated the allegations and Thrasher was charged with departmental violations for his conduct. Commissioner Ramsey has given Thrasher thirty days suspension with the intent to dismiss for his conduct.
Officer William Thrasher, of Tacony of all places, said to a student report “These people are fucking disgusting, it’s like they’re animals.” referring to black residents who live in the district which he patrols. He also told the reporter about “TNS”, which he described as “typical nigger shit”. Racist Philadelphia Officer Thrasher Thrasher was re-instated by an arbitrator who stated the reporter refused to turn over her notes to Internal Affairs. Racist Cop Reinstated
The student wrote an unflattering article about the department. Racist Cops Exposed in Black & Blue Article
There is a problem in our country. There were people from all walks of life in Charlottesville Virginia. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke.
There has to be a conversation about the racism that has been emboldened in our society. We should be capable of having this contentious, but necessary conversation.
Racism has no place in policing.
Hate Groups in Pennsylvania
*Source http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/17/us/hate-groups-us-map-trnd/index.html
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. True to our predictions, Sullivan put on a Comey-esque (Former FBI Director James Comey) show. Deputy Commissioner Joseph Sullivan testified today in the trial of District Attorney Seth Williams who is on trial for on a litany of charges in federal court today. He asserted “It didn’t feel right.”, however, this was a full almost two years after, it became common knowledge that Seth was going to be indicted. This was even after the Feds at the airport, warned him about helping Ali.
Sullivan was too pre-occupied with his own aspirations so he in turn, warned Seth. Once again, failing the law enforcement community. Sullivan should have kept that information to himself, and put Country before Career and told Seth, he was uncomfortable with his request. But that isn’t what he did.
Sullivan, who has admitted on the stand, that he attempted to assist Mohammed Ali, the foreign born citizen who lavished Williams with many gifts and trips, by sending cops to the screening area in an effort to circumvent Ali being held up in Customs. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, “It didn’t feel right,” Sullivan said.” But what the DN failed to report was by the time Sullivan was meeting Ali and the DA in the Union League of Philadelphia, it was a well known fact that both Ali and Williams was under investigation. Therefore; he could sound like he did the right thing when he tells the jury he “went straight to the FBI”.
However; he failed to go to the FBI when Williams originally asked him to intervene, in fact, he sent a Police escort. The DN also wrote that Sullivan testified “When a request comes from the district attorney, I feel comfortable that there is validity to it,” Sullivan testified. “He is the highest law enforcement official in the city of Philadelphia. If he makes a request, it goes to the top of the list.” Herein lies the problem. If anyone asks someone in the position of Sullivan to assist a foreign born citizen, with help to bypass the screening process, while re-entering the US, while returning from a Middle-Eastern country, red flags, bells and whistles should have been going on in Sullivan’s head. Sullivan bragged that his job is to “think like a terrorist”, well that day, he thought like an opportunist.
Even after the United States Customs and Border Protection warned him there was “an issue” with Ali, Sullivan complained the officials did not go into detail. So what did the then-Homeland Security trained Sullivan do, he tried to score points with Seth again, by warning him.
It was only well after a year later, when Seth invited Sullivan to the Union League of Philadelphia to meet with Mohammed Ali at a business lunch, which by then, it was well known that Seth was going to probably be indicted, did Sullivan feel “uncomfortable” and it was after this meeting that Sullivan “went directly to the FBI.”
Sullivan, still talking to potential employers, testified that ““I was a little angry at him,” referring to Seth Williams. Sullivan then retorted “My reputation is intact. My character is intact. … It’s important that I not be in the company of people who would call my character into question.” Too late.
You failed the ethics test when you failed to go to the FBI upon receiving the request to help bypass the screening the process, warned Seth about the warning the US CBP gave you, and when you involved innocent cops to meet Ali. Your character is questionable and your reputation isn’t intact.
There has to be an investigation into Sullivan’s conduct. Sullivan was spinning his opportunistic motives on that stand. There has to be an Internal Affairs investigation and maybe even a grand jury investigation after hearing his testimony today.
The fact that a Deputy Commissioner was faced with an ethical dilemma, a few years ago, and failed to take any action, and actually assisted in the illicit request, is problematic. Sullivan boasts that he has alot of training from the FBI Academy, to his Homeland Security post, yet he failed to immediately report Seth’s request. In fact, he honored it. Even when he was warned about Ali being watched, he warned Seth, but not the FBI.
Sullivan, who just can’t help himself as he’s never met a camera that he didn’t love, had to chutzpah to tell the media, as he was leaving the courtroom, “”And thanks to the relationship I have with the other federal agencies, the right information eventually came to light.” The information only came to light because Seth was arrested. If Seth was never arrested and the rumors hadn’t been floating around since 2012, Sullivan would have never went to “other federal agencies”.
Sullivan completely failed in his duty to report Seth when the request was initially made.
Sullivan cant be allowed to try to come away from this sh** storm smelling like roses. He reeks of sh**. He has the stink of it all over him. Just like the other parties in this criminal enterprise.
Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil, is what newly appointed Deputy Commissioner Joseph Sullivan did when asked to violate the rules, while he was assigned to Homeland Security. What genius decided it was a good idea to get Sullivan appointed to the rank of Deputy Commissioner after being fully aware of his involvement in the Seth Williams criminal mess.
At the press conference announcing the indictment of Williams, acting New Jersey US Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced that Seth “pressured” a police official to help bypass the screening process.
Sullivan is expected to testify at the on-going trial of the District Attorney of Philadelphia, Seth Williams on Monday. This is a guy, who said “my job is to think like a terrorist.” This is the guy who was hailed by the Philadelphia Daily News who “keeps our city safe.” Newsflash: He failed!!!
Sullivan is expected to give a Comey-esque testimony, that he felt uncomfortable with the favors Williams asked him to do for a a Jordanian born millionaire (who is also testifying against Seth) by the name of Mohammed Ali.
The difference between former FBI Director James Comey and Sullivan is that Comey, who admitted that “Lordy, I hope there are tapes“, where Sullivan is probably wishing the opposite.
Sullivan became a self-aggrandizing, self promoting opportunistic parasite, who ignored the tenets of both his job and his duty of an American, in order to ingratiate himself to a financially strapped, celebrity wanna be, Seth Williams, who happens to be the District Attorney.
If Sullivan truly thought like a terrorist, he would have looked into Seth’s background and quickly found out that he failed to pay his bills and had all kinds of liens and judgments against him.
This is how a terrorist would think, is Seth vulnerable and susceptible to bribes? And anyone who looked at his pathetic financials, would come to an inescapable conclusion: YES. Had Sullivan did any kind of due diligence, after reviewing his financials, he would have run for the hills. Because clearly, this Jordanian born millionaire, had the ability to make Seth’s life, a bit more comfortable.
Instead, he was blinded by Seth’s title, and the possibility of how Seth could help in the advancement of his career.
Sullivan, who was the head of Homeland Security in the Philadelphia Police Department, should have known better. According to the US Attorney, Sullivan felt “pressured”. Here is Sullivan’s advertisement.
Dimes to donuts that if you asked a rookie cop, if they were asked by the DA to meet with a Middle-Eastern businessman, who was being vetted by U.S. Customs, and to intervene in order to either prevent part of the screening process, or even to simply meet with him concerning the vetting process by the Feds, you would get an unequivocal response of “Hell No”.
If this was a question or scenario before an oral testing board for any supervisory position within the Police Department, anyone who wanted any shot of passing the test, would have not only said “no”, but would have reported it to the appropriate authorities.
Mohammed Ali was still subjected to vetting by the feds, so his scheme to circumvent the vetting process by using Philly cops, still failed, it did however; lessen his time in Customs, and it is a certainty, that this was because when the agents saw Philly cops standing by waiting for Ali, they worked a little quicker.
But, not only did Sullivan say “yes”, according to the site philly.com, when Ali asked Williams to investigate, he went further then that, “Prosecutors allege that Williams did more than just investigate. He set Ali up with then-Capt. Joe Sullivan, the head of the Police Department’s Homeland Security Unit, who later sent officers to escort Ali through a secondary screening on a subsequent trip through the airport.”
Sullivan betrayed his duty to keep us safe, and his duty to “see something, say something”.
Sullivan was blinded by his wanna be celebrity status and his rising star by making friends with people whom he believed to be important. This desire blinded his duty to keep us safe. Sullivan had a duty to, at the very least, report what was asked of him, to the Feds.
Sullivan, unlike most citizens and even alot of cops, had a fast-track to the Feds, because of his title in the PPD Homeland Security Unit, and this enabled him to directly report this illicit “favor”. Sullivan had no idea about this guys background, or if Sullivan felt like he was being “pressured”, he would have politely declined to meet with Ali. He could have explained to Seth, that on the face of it, it simply looks bad.
Ironically, we are told on the Philadelphia Police Department’s Intelligence Bureau website to “Report: The Solution Starts With You“. Ironic.
Rumor has it, the Feds gave him a “bye” because of his graveling about his FBI leadership training and his incessant ranting about being uncomfortable and “pressured” about being involved in this debacle with Seth. But he did it. He got involved. Maybe this is why the City of Memphis took a “bye” on Sullivan.
The Feds went along with the story, because it must have been difficult to say no a sitting DA, and herein lies the problem.
If you have the head of Homeland Security, afraid to say “no” to what he perceives to be at the very least, something wrong, how can you expect a street cop to say “no” to the corruption of a supervisor? If Sullivan actually testifies that he felt “uncomfortable” or “pressured” with the meeting, but went anyway, and then even interceded by having local Police on stand-by for the foreign born Ali, then there is a problem with his decision-making skills.
At the very least, he violated and breached the duty he has to the citizens of Philadelphia and the department to which he serves. It’s very difficult to be a whistleblower, no matter how high you ascend in the ranks, especially if you are a social-climber.
One can argue that where was he supposed to go to report the actions of Seth? That is a more valid argument of former FBI Director James Comey. However; Comey, not only took detailed notes of an uncomfortable meeting, but he told a superior in the Department of Justice. Sullivan, if he didn’t trust telling Commissioner Richard Ross, could have used the contacts he had within the Federal government as a result of his role as head of Homeland Security, to report Seth’s misdeeds. Sullivan should have also been more concerned about what items Ali was bringing into the country.
That is a disgrace. Sullivan was a flip-flopper. Sullivan was being duplicitous when dealing with the Feds. When Sullivan thought Seth was the side to be on, he failed in his duty as head of Homeland Security for the PPD. The fact that Sullivan had a Police escort for a foreign-born traveller, returning from a country that is just North of Syria and in the middle of the Middle East, where most of the recent terrorism is emanating, is proof of both his poor decision-making skills, and the fact that he wanted to be on the side that most beneficial to his career. When he found out Seth was done, he quickly skirted over to the side he should have been on in the first place, the side of doing what is right.
Sullivan should not leave this mess smelling like roses. He should smell like everyone else involved in this mess who knew they were doing, at the very least, something wrong, and at the most, something criminal. Sullivan saw something, but failed to say something, until asked. Is caving into “pressure” a good leadership skill?
Anyone with any type of patriotism, not even law enforcement, question why this guy didn’t want to be vetted by customs? This is some monkey sh**. Sullivan must go. But then again, newly appointed to the rank of Inspector, Joseph Bologna, is still in charge of the Background Unit, but failed the background for the FBI Academy. Use of the word “appointed” because both Sullivan’s and Bologna’s promotions were not the result of a civil service examination, but the result of an “appointment”.
Let’s see if Sullivan succumbs to “pressure” tomorrow when he is testifying. Let’s see if he admits in open court that he was either afraid of Seth Williams, intimidated by Seth Williams, or felt compelled to cooperate with Seth Williams. Let’s see if he immediately reported the conduct of Seth Williams, (which we already know he did not until whispers started going around that Seth was being investigated), or if he just went along in order to do the same thing that Mohammed Ali said he did: went along because it’s nice to have friends in positions of power.
At the very least, he must be removed from both his appointed rank of Deputy Commissioner, and as head of Homeland Security. Hopefully, Mayor Kenney or Commissioner Ross will feel “pressured” to put Sullivan in a position where he will be less “pressured”.
Final Thought: Is there an Internal Affairs investigation into the actions or lack thereof; of Joseph Sullivan?
Stay tuned for his testimony tomorrow.
secretsociety2015blog 