NOVATO OFFICER CLEARED…TWICE
When allegations of
discriminatory treatment were found to be not sustained, Officer Earl
Titman, an eight-year veteran of the Novato Police Department, thought
that the Internal Affairs investigation into the incident was behind
him. "Not so" said the City of Novato Police Advisory and
Review Board. Dissatisfied with the results of the Internal Affairs
investigation the complainant had filed a complaint with the board,
which decided to conduct its own interview of Titman.
The incident in question
began on the morning of October 4,1996 when Titman, who is the
school resource officer, received a call from a woman saying that her
son had been attacked at school the previous day. Shortly after
receiving the call Titman received a second call, this one from the
assistant principal of the school, who stated that there had been a
fight at school on the previous day and that a knife had been taken away
from one of the participants.
Titman responded to the
school and after investigating, learned that the two involved juveniles
had been engaged in an ongoing dispute and that both participants
claimed local gang affiliation. On October 3, the verbal dispute
finally evolved into a physical confrontation.
One of the youths, with
several friends watching, grabbed the other and began battering him,
whereupon the other displayed a knife of approximately 8-to-10 inches.
He threatened everyone present with it and left the scene.
Investigation revealed
that before the fight this juvenile had been heard to say, to one of the
first juvenile's friends, "Watch out you f-- slobs, cuz I'm gonna
shank you."
The next day, October
4, the aggressor from the previous day was found in possession of a
knife on school grounds. He said that he had heard rumors that the 18th
Street gang was going to retaliate and was "going to get him,"
therefore he had armed himself.
After conducting a
thorough investigation, Titman arrested one juvenile and charged him
with possession of a knife while on campus, and brandishing a weapon. He
was then transported to juvenile hall and booked on those charges.
The other juvenile was
charged with battery; and possession of a knife while on campus. He was
cited and released to his guardian.
The parents of the
juvenile who was booked filed a complaint with the police department,
alleging racial discrimination (he is Hispanic and the juvenile cited
and released is Caucasian). The department, after conducting a complete
investigation, cleared Titman of any wrongdoing.
The parents then filed
a complaint with the board, which convened to investigate the
allegations. At Police Chief Brian Brady's suggestion, the city provided
the board with an attorney who was familiar with this type of matter and
the Peace Officers' Bill of Rights.
While the board had
conducted investigations before it had never interviewed an officer.
There were many concerns about the process, what with this being the
first interview the board had conducted and no one knew exactly what to
expect. Some of those concerns were found to be legitimate.
The board initially did
not see much difference between the actions of the two juveniles. Not
being familiar with the law regarding deadly weapons, the board had a
hard time following the logic of citing one of the parties and booking
the other.
Titman and his
representative were able to show the board the difference between the
juvenile who had possessed but not brandished a knife and who had made
no threats to use the knife, and the juvenile who had not only possessed
a knife, but also brandished that knife and threatened to
"shank" someone.
The board, after hearing
all of the facts, unanimously voted to clear Titman of any
charges of wrongdoing.
Officer Titman was represented
in these proceedings by Mark Wiesler, of Employee Representation
Services, Inc.
There is an ongoing
lesson here. All officers should be aware of the possibility that their
actions, no matter how righteous, are subject to vigorous review and
that there is a need for proper representation at all levels of the
investigation.
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