Scott Milliman became a McHenry County, Illinois Sheriff ’s Deputy on March 2, 1998. In December 2001, Milliman was diagnosed with brain cancer. On July 21, 2002, Milliman underwent brain surgery and went on extended medical leave to recover. Dr. Christopher Grote evaluated Milliman and determined that he was fit for duty. Milliman returned to work on November 17, 2003. In November 2010, Milliman gave a deposition in a…
The Illinois Pension Code defines a disability as “a condition of physical or mental incapacity to perform any assigned duty or duties in the police service.” A recent case involving the Chicago Police Department showed how the availability of light-duty work can impact an officer’s disability status. The case involved Ryan O’Donnell, who broke his right clavicle in 2006 while training at the police academy and was subsequently awarded…
Merlin Alston was a New York City police officer. In 2016, Alston was convicted of two federal crimes: (1) Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and a quantity of the controlled substance MDMA; and (2) Possessing a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking offense. Alston was sentenced to 240 months of imprisonment. Alston appealed his conviction, raising a number…
Johnathan Johns and David Lynch worked as corrections officers at the Washington State Coyote Ridge Correction Center (CRCC). Inmates Schawn Cruze and David Kopp were cellmates at CRCC. Kopp, 22 at the time, was serving a 240-month sentence for second degree murder. Cruze was serving a term of life in prison following a 1997 persistent offender sentence. Cruze was transferred to CRCC in August, 2012, after an infraction-filled institutional…
Franklin Savage joined the Pocomoke, Maryland City Police Department in 2011, and in 2012 was assigned to the Worcester County Criminal Enforcement Team (CET), a multi-jurisdictional drug interdiction task force led by the Worcester County Sheriff ’s Office. In April 2014, Savage attended a meeting with members of the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s office, including State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss an upcoming…
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides state remedies similar to those available under a variety of federal discrimination laws. One provision in FEHA bars disability discrimination. Augustine Caldera is a correctional officer at a state prison. Caldera stutters when he speaks. The prison’s employees mocked or mimicked Caldera’s stutter at least a dozen times over a period of about two years. Sergeant James Grove, a supervisor, participated…
Leonardo Ortiz and Michael Ayala were officers with the Los Angeles Police Department. On December 13, 2013, LAPD patrol received a broadcast report of a pursuit of a reckless driver in a Corvette. A pursuit ensued, which ended when the Corvette collided with a Nissan Sentra at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Los Angeles Street. The collision spun the Sentra down the street and onto the curb, shearing…
In her first two weeks as a patrol officer for the City of Fort Pierce, Florida, Nicole Patsalides reported that she was sexually harassed by a co-worker. During that time, by her account, a male patrol officer with whom she worked touched her repeatedly in ways that she considered to be inappropriate, and in general showed an undue interest in her. Over the relevant two-week period, the male officer…
Chicago Police Officer Cleveland Hardy served for three years as a driver for former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. When the Department announced openings for the sergeant position, McCarthy and Hardy discussed the possibility of Hardy applying. Command staff below the rank of deputy superintendent could nominate a candidate for the promotion as long as the candidate had passed an exam administered in 2006. Though Hardy failed the exam, McCarthy,…
In 2011, police officers arrested four men suspected of robbing a series of Radio Shack and T-Mobile stores in Detroit. One of the men confessed that, over the previous four months, the group (along with a rotating cast of getaway drivers and lookouts) had robbed nine different stores in Michigan and Ohio. The suspect identified 15 accomplices who had participated in the heists and gave the FBI some of…
