This article appears in the January 2021 issue of our monthly newsletter, Public Safety Labor News. On November 1, 2016, an audit at a county in Washington uncovered an accounting software error had caused Benton County Sheriff’s Office employees, including 85 corrections officers, to be overpaid from June 2016 through September 2016. Benton County Auditor […]
From New Jersey:Question: Can an employer mandate COVID-19 testing twice a week for some of its employees? And can they take a person’s saliva? Is this legal? Couldn’t they then mandate testing for other illnesses and take a person’s blood for testing? And what about a mandate that employees get the vaccine? I understand taking […]
Adam Procell is a sergeant with the Baker, Louisiana Police Department. When Procell and another officer responded to an alarm at a Baker charter school, they found an open door but no signs of criminal activity. As they were exiting the building, they heard approximately ten gunshots appearing to come from a distance of roughly […]
Steven Dunbar, a District Chief for the Houston Fire Department (HFD), made a post in a private social media group for HFD firefighters in July 2019. Discussing a transfer opportunity HFD had posted the month before, he wrote: “If you are thinking about putting in for a spot in District 64 on C-shift you better […]
Joseph Oquendo was a detective with the NYPD. Before he retired, Oquendo was arrested and charged with DWI. While the criminal charges were pending, NYPD denied Oquendo’s anticipatory application for a retired police officer handgun license. Had one been issued, Oquendo could have legally possessed a concealed handgun within New York City. Though a jury […]
Ariel Lindsay has been a Cook County, Illinois deputy sheriff since2004, and was assigned to the Court Services Unit in the Criminal Courts Building in Chicago. From July 6, 2016, through July 8, 2016, Lindsay made several posts to her Facebook account. Those posts referenced the July 2016 shooting of police officers in Dallas, Texas, […]
James Crowley is a firefighter with the Superstition Fire and Medical District in Arizona. Over the course of his 20-year career, Crowley was exposed to diesel exhaust fumes daily. In addition, while on fire calls he was exposed to the smoke and fumes of burning plastics, chemicals, paints, stains, glues, wood, and other miscellaneous substances. […]
Brad Sandefur was a corrections officer for the Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois. He suffers from disk desiccation in his spine and osteoarthritis in his knees. Both conditions can cause intermittent pain for weeks at a time. In 2011, Sandefur applied for and received a handicapped parking placard from the Illinois Secretary of State. His […]
To become a City of Plainfield firefighter in New Jersey, applicants are required to prove residency. Christopher D’Amico submitted several documents supporting his Plainfield residency, including a roller hockey alliance insurance card. D’Amico modified the card to include his actual residential address in Plainfield. According to D’Amico, he revised the card because he did not […]
Alonzo Herran was employed as a City of Newark police officer for 15 years. His tenure was marked by multiple violations of the Newark Police Department’s rules and regulations and the rules of the Civil Service Commission. In 2012, the City filed disciplinary charges against Herran for allegedly striking a civilian with the butt of […]
Joseph Caiazza was a deputy sheriff with the Lee County, Florida Sheriff’s Department. Before his retirement, Caiazza worked on Captiva and Sanibel Islands (the “Islands”). The Islands had only one other patrol officer, along with a supervisor who had mostly administrative duties. Every 14 days, the Sheriff scheduled Caiazza for seven 12-hour shifts of active […]
The Illinois Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by a terminated officer against his union’s lawyer. The Court’s opinion turned on several fundamental principles of legal ethics. The officer, Russell Zander of the Village of Fox Lake, was terminated for various acts of on-the-job misconduct. Zander’s labor organization, the Fraternal Order of Police, assigned […]
On November 1, 2016, an audit at a county in Washington uncovered an accounting software error had caused Benton County Sheriff’s Office employees, including 85 corrections officers, to be overpaid from June 2016 through September 2016. Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton sent Sheriff Steven Keane a memo that notified him of the error. The memo […]
